Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls
by RavenBloom
Summary: Not your usual next gen fic. When she is convicted for a series of murders that she didn't commit, Lucia accepts a mission from Aqua Regina following the mysterious activation of the legendary Rainbow Notes. Too bad that their bearers are all the way in Malaysia...
1. Prologue

Hey there! I'm back with a new story! Yes, yes, I might have six stories still on going, but I absolutely needed to put this up.

This is a next generation story, as there as a couple of them in the archive, but I decided to put my spin on the usual tale. Here we are, with the first chapter. Enjoy!

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

**Stories/ Tales**

* * *

Prologue

Silence reigned in the courtroom. Everyone's eyes, shades and variants of every colour in the rainbow with the exception of orange were fixated on her and her alone. Lucia felt distinctly uncomfortable. She could practically see burning gaze shot from behind her.

The judge, a purple mermaid in her late twenties, with a grim face and cold violet eyes, banged her gavel sharply, snapping Lucia out of her self-induced trance.

_This is it,_ she thought. _My fate has been decided._

Somehow, she had just haphazardly tuned out all that the mermaid had said until she reached the last sentence. 'Princess Lucia of the North Pacific Ocean is hereby pronounced as guilty!'

Guilty. She had been found guilty. But how? She had never even known those mermaids existed until the trial! How could she had been found as _guilty_ for Aqua Regina's sake!

She did the only thing she knew to at the moment. She didn't protest, she _ran_. Or more like swam; she had no legs underwater anyway. She dashed out of the courtroom, blue eyes suddenly sweeping over her former friends. They _were_ still her friends, weren't they?

'Guards! After her!' It was Hanon and Rina.

Apparently not.

Hastily, she sped up her pace, starting her task again. Her mission: Escape. Lucia could hear the clinking of the spears that the guards held. They were fast, trained to fight, and she wasn't. No, she would be caught if she didn't lose them and quick.

Her pink tail beat against the water, giving her an extra push when she saw the thick forest of pink coral just in front of her. She painstakingly manoeuvred herself through the sturdy coral.

Hearing the grunts of the mermaids trapped and tangled in the coral, Lucia gave a small smile. Those mermaids knew how to fight, _she_ however knew to evade obstacles, thanks to the fact that Izurul's dragons were impossible to swim through. Having thrown off her pursuers, Lucia's speed decreased just a little.

Wincing as the coral swiped harshly across her face, Lucia closed her eyes, knowing she was coming to the end of the forest and bracing herself for another charge.

Suddenly, the stinging blows of the coral… just disappeared. Blue irises snapped wide open. '_Nani_?'

Lucia brought herself to a stop just in front of a crystalline wall. The light reflecting from the smooth surface, hit her necklace and she instinctively turned, taking in the tranquil beauty of the place she was in.

'_Wow_,' Lucia whispered in awe. She was in a palace, a palace made out of crystals to be exact. The crystal walls were glinting and shining as points of light hit them at random intervals. It was breathtaking, awe-inspiring. Simply… magnificent.

'Princess Lucia of the North Pacific Ocean,' a voice, soft and maternal called out to the blonde warmly. Lucia knew that voice very well. She turned, head bowed in respect.

'Aqua Regina-sama,' she returned.

The goddess' long blond hair was flowing smoothly, powder blue eyes glowing softly in the light made the girl respect her even more as the subtle power shown in them shone. Silently, Lucia wondered if the goddess was there to aid her or to condemn her to the unforgiving darkness of the dungeons.

'You want to give up, Lucia, do you not?'

Lucia's head snapped up, blue eyes wide as she stammered out, 'W-what?'

Aqua Regina laughed lightly, the sound ringing like bells in Lucia's ear. 'You want for this to go away, the condemnation by your friends, the battle with Mikeru to end. You want nothing more than to be with your friends.'

Lucia let out a sigh. She should have known that the Oceans' Queen would know of her feelings. She knew all that was happening in the oceans, after all.

'There is nothing to be ashamed of, Lucia,' comfortingly, the goddess spoke to her. 'Mermaids were never meant to be creatures of war, so your longing for peace is perfectly normal, even more so with this… abandonment by Hanon and Rina.'

The blonde's firm gaze was on the proverbial 'mother' to each and every mermaid. There was a smile on Aqua Regina's face as she looked at the younger blonde. There was much potential in her, that much she could see. She has faced a less than pleasant ordeal, but her light was still very bright.

She had a very colourful future to look forward to, and with the bleakness she looked like she was facing, she deserved a new motive to work towards, especially with the death sentence looming above her head. The tip of her staff that was entwined with leaf covered vines glinted brightly. She just needed a little 'push'.

'Lucia,' Aqua Regina turned around, and spoke to her again. 'Have you heard of the Rainbow Notes?' She smiled; that would do the trick.

It did, getting a rise out of the younger girl as soon as the words 'Rainbow Notes' were mentioned. 'The mythical Rainbow Notes?' Lucia asked in astonishment.

The aforementioned Rainbow Notes were powerful items, bringing with it unspeakable power as it was told to be in one of mermaid society's many myths. The myth was usually one of the bedtime stories mermaid told to their children and she had heard stories about it in her childhood. She still remembered it like it was yesterday.

**The myth of the Rainbow Notes started many, many years ago, when the mermaids became a sentient species. The Aqua Goddess of the time, Aqua Amphitrite knew that the powers held by her were too much for her to handle, much less her successor.**

**Thus, she split the sea into seven, forming each kingdom. To rule over each kingdom, she appointed the Mermaid Princesses, who became the primary line of defence against the other invading species, such as the demons. The Princesses grew arrogant however, and started to misuse their power. Aqua Amphitrite knew she had to fix things before the condition worsened and summoned the Princesses before her.**

**From each Princess, she removed all but the power to sing and govern the kingdom. From the Pink Pearl's powers, the power of the heart was taken and turned into a pink diamond, shaped into a treble clef. From the Orange Pearl, the magic of the flames was taken and put into a semibreve note crafted from a fire opal.**

**Then from the Yellow Pearl, she took the power of light, sealing it in a minim note shaped from bright yellow topaz. The Green Pearl's ability to control flora was removed, placed carefully in a crochet note shaped jade.**

**The power to manipulate the water was the magic taken from the Mizuiro Pearl, kept under the Goddess' watch in a semiquaver lapis lazuli. The icy magic of the Aiiro Pearl was sealed in a breve note, made from a piece of sapphire. Lastly, the psychic powers belonging to the Purple Pearl were kept into an amethyst turned into a bass clef.**

**Furious, the Princesses has demanded their powers back, however Aqua Amphitrite had already laid down a seal; the Princesses would never receive them back, for now they were waiting for those with a truly pure heart. Their new wielders would be the ones that were worthy.**

**And with the sealing of the Notes, Aqua Amphitrite spoke a powerful prophecy. **

_**With these words I speak right now,**_

_**The Notes shall not awake till their owners are found,**_

_**Seven hybrids with power untold,**_

_**The wielders I see united under one decree,**_

_**One motive and desire is what they share,**_

_**The fate of the world rests in their hands.**_

**The Princesses tried their best to retrieve their powers but sadly Aqua Amphitrite's spell had taken root, they failed with each try. The Notes now lie dormant in the deep reaches of the Aqua Goddess' palace, waiting for their true owners to be born.**

Could the prophecy have come to pass? Could the hybrids in the prophecy have been born? Had the Rainbow Notes awakened once more?

'Lucia, once more the powers sealed by my one of predecessors have awakened within the Notes. They are ready to protect the world from danger. Lucia, you are the one I have chosen to aid these seven in fulfilling their duty. I ask of you to help these children to learn how to use this magic for the purpose of good,' Aqua Regina's eyes were strong, powerful, asking the younger mermaid to complete the task for her.

Seeing the task she had been assigned to, Lucia nodded firmly, a new spark lit her blue eyes; a new mission had been given to her, and she would complete it. Aqua Regina's smile was warm, and the goddess thanked the princess.

The wall behind Lucia rippled, turning into a five meter tall mirror which spanned three meters in width. She turned, watching as the surface reflected a beautiful scene of a lake. Trees with long, willowy branches had the ends of the green boughs dipped into the lake's surface, an small isle covered with green plants in the smack middle of the blue water.

'It's so pretty,' Lucia murmured.

'It is,' Aqua Regina agreed. 'This, Lucia is a town in Perak, Malaysia, called Taiping.'

The lake's scenery turned into a picture of a suburban housing estate, the houses painted in shades of either white or yellow with gates of various colours. One of the houses in particular, one with red tiling on the roof, white walls and a silver gate caught her eye.

That house… seemed to have a special something about it, but what was it?

'Lucia,' Aqua Regina called to her, voice soft and tender. The blonde turned, confused with her situation. What, what was it about the place that was so… enticing? No, that wasn't the word, interesting? Ah, that was it. What was it about the house that made it so interesting to her?

'Six of those seven children are in that house right now, Lucia. I have already informed their parents of the turn of fate, as such, they will be expecting you to turn up.'

Lucia's eyes were wide, her expression shocked. So she had been expecting this? _It would have been nice if Aqua Regina-sama had given a little heads up_, Lucia thought dryly with a little hint of resentment. Aqua Regina smiled at her, flicking her staff at the mirror, the edges of the frame glowing brightly.

'Now, it is time for you to go, Lucia. They are waiting, after all.' Aqua Regina's smile grew warmer as she looked at the mermaid. She was ready for this; she would be ready for anything that anyone and everyone threw at her. She just hoped that the mermaid didn't receive a shock larger than what she had now when the Aqua Goddess' little secret was revealed.

Lucia looked at the shimmering mirror and inhaled deeply, changing into her human form with a light touch to the pink shell necklace dangling on a thin string around her neck. Her long hair darkened and reduced in length until it barely reached her shoulders, pinned into two pigtails at the back by twin ribbons, as red as a fresh rose. Her eyes turned into a shade of brown; however the emotions in them never changed.

'Alright,' Lucia murmured to herself. 'I'm ready.'

And with that, she steeled herself and placed her hand on the mirror's surface. She could feel the energy emanating from it. She pushed through, passing into the portal. Vaguely, she heard Aqua Regina's voice behind her, wishing her good luck.

As she reached her destination, Lucia couldn't help but feel a little light headed; as portals were something she had no experience travelling with, the sensation was much unpleasant to her. She took a look at the house and was only a little surprised as the silver gates were opened by a dark skinned woman with long brown hair.

'_Youkoso, Lucia-sama_,' the woman greeted in surprisingly accurate Japanese.

Lucia looked at the woman's dark brown eyes, wondering what she would see in them. She found sincerity.

'_We have been waiting for your arrival as was told by Aqua Regina-sama,_' she continued. '_You have nothing to worry about here. We were told about your little dilemma,_' she explained when Lucia gave her a vaguely confused look at her second-to-last sentence.

She opened the door, leading to a tastefully furnished living room, in which had four other women, each with black tinted hair and dark eyes, waiting patiently for them. 'Lucia-sama, welcome to Malaysia,' they chorused with a smile to her.

Lucia smiled as the first woman led her to an armchair to sit down; she had the feeling that she would like this place.

End Chapter

* * *

And we're done! Read and review!


	2. Chapter 1: The Fire Pearl's awakening

**Thanks to rinnegan18: _The location is because Malaysia is where I'm most familiar with, plus I wanted to be original. I hope you like this chapter._**

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_ (Translation)_  
_

_Thinking_

**Stories/ Tales**

* * *

_Chapter 1: 蝶の攻撃！ 火災真珠の目覚め！（The butterfly attacks! The fire pearl's awakening!）  
_

Ten years later, a clear ringing sound cut through the silence in the three buildings that stood proudly in small town. Whitewashed and gifted with roofs a bright red for the two on the sides, one was back to back with a large spacious field filled with grass a bright shade of green, the other right opposite it, only three floors tall as opposed to the four that made up its neighbour.

The building in the middle was a basketball court, constructed with a solid foundation and having a roof of dull faded blue tiles, the once luminescent shade having faded with the sun's constant shine.

At once, students wearing dark blue and white started to run out of their classrooms. Various students of either three races: Malay, Chinese and Indian raced each other to the parking lot, laughing all the way.

Others, being older students in the upper years were walking slowly to their destination, some to the school's canteen where they could get a quick snack of fries and soda before heading home; some to the bus stop where they would hop on their assigned bus; others to either the computer lab, the science lab or the remaining place in the school that the students fondly called the 'art grounds'.

In the second building, Lucia gave the thirty pupils of Year 4 Hijau a quick dismissal, watching with a smile as the typically stuttering students started to chatter animatedly amongst them. The boys were all first to escape through the wooden double doors, all clad in stiff collared white shirts that had their nametag and the school's emblem sewn on it and dark blue shorts. The girls, wearing dark blue pinafores that had the same things sewn onto them and belts over a pristine white shirt, took their time, gossiping excitedly about celebrities and news they heard about practically anyone.

Eventually though, the students, all wearing white shoes and socks had cleared with classroom — all except two, that is.

Both were female, with short to medium statures and dark brown eyes. The first, with a pink and orange bag slung over her shoulders, had fairly dark skin and unnaturally orange brown short hair that had a slight curl to it at the end.

The other was slightly taller, with much darker skin and an athlete's build. She had short inky green hair that, while frequently mistaken for black, also had an ethereal gleam to it.

The first girl, whose nametag read in neat white block letters 'Shusmeetha', bounded up to Lucia with a bright grin. 'Lucia-nee, hurry up!' she chirped merrily, bouncing on her heels excitedly. 'Lavena said she's going to let Lav and I have ice cream if we finish our homework early today.'

The second girl, the nametag having 'Lavhanya' sewn onto it in bold white font, grinned widely at Lucia, shifting her green and blue bag while walking towards the door. Shusmeetha raced out of the door, her voice echoing faintly as she dashed down the staircase, 'Race you to Lucia-nee's car, Lav!'

Grinning widely, Lavhanya chased after her friend. 'Wait up, 'meetha!'

Lucia had a vaguely amused look as she stepped outside. Wind was blowing from her right, which was the only area where the wind wasn't blocked by the buildings. Brushing her windswept brown hair — formerly a dark blond — back, she leant against the corridor's railing with a sigh of contentment. The girls, two darkly skinned children with brightly coloured bags slung across their backs were almost at her car now, their giggles fluttering up to her, even as she stood on the third floor.

Smoothing out the floral printed, or _batik_, dress she was wearing, Lucia went down the stairs and made her way towards the girls. Once there, however, she saw another girl, much taller than both Shusmeetha and Lavhanya but having the same medium dark skin that the former had.

Running her hand through her purple-tinted blackish hair, this girl was wearing almost the same outfit as the shorter two were, but with the pinafore a light blue instead, a hallmark of a secondary school student. The older girl was lazily leaning against Lucia's car — a dark blue Myvi — while listening to the younger duo chatter on excitedly.

Lavena, the aforementioned girl, was Shusmeetha's older sister, now a student in Form One as opposed to her younger sister's Year Four, making their age difference three years. The thirteen year old looked up almost instantly as she approached, a smile on her face.

'Lucia-nee,' she greeted with enthusiasm. Lucia felt a smile quirk her lips. The girls' enthusiasm was contagious sometimes.

'I thought you had tuition?' the young woman queried her oldest charge.

'They cancelled it due to something… I can't remember what but I'm sure it was important,' Lavena scratched the back of her head. 'And didn't I tell you about that last week? I thought I did.'

Seeing her confused look, Lucia just shook her head. Typical Lavena, serious about her studies yet a sometimes forgetful girl when out of school. She herself still had her own 'blonde' moments, but it now seemed like she was rubbing off on Lavena.

As she motioned for the girls to get into the car, she saw two figures descending from the stairs of the four storey building. They headed towards a black Vios, one she recognized as the car belonging to the class teacher of Year Six Merah.

As they walked closer to the black car, she identified the taller of the two as the aforementioned teacher. He had raven hair, a normal hair colour to have in Malaysia. Lucia pressed her lips together into a thin line, watching as he unlocked the car.

The figure beside him, a girl that wore thin, black framed spectacles, was wearing the signature school uniform of the primary schools, a stack of printed booklets with a pink cover at the top carried carefully in her arms. She was almost certainly one of his students and a quick check of her nametag— yellow in colour — confirmed that, yes; indeed, she was a Year Six student.

The girl shifted the booklets to her right arm with surprising dexterity and used her other arm's hand to push her glasses up her nose. As her teacher unlocked the car and opened the boot, she carefully set it inside in a position where it would stay.

Lucia found her focus on the raven haired teacher as she walked absent-mindedly to the door of her own car. _He looks familiar_, she mused._ Like I've seen him before…_

Finally, as the girl shut the cover and walked calmly to the passenger seat, Lucia opened the door to the driver's seat, sliding in with a frown on her face. _Now, just _what _was his name again?_

Lavena was grinning widely as she started the car. '_Nee_, Lucia-nee, why were you staring at Mr Tam and Zhi Hui just now?'

_Oh, yes. Tam Kai Te. _

Lucia shook her head. 'It was nothing, Lavena. He just… reminds me of someone I… _knew_.'

_Nanatsu no umi no rakuen_

_Arashi no yoru no ato ni wa_

Lucia smiled lightly as she heard Shusmeetha and Lavhanya humming the tune to their childhood lullaby, her favourite song a good ten years ago — Legend of Mermaid. But almost instantly, the song brought up a memory, one that she'd rather forget.

_Flashback_

_Lucia surfaced from beneath the waves, watching in awe as the fireworks went off in brilliant splashes of colour. She closed her eyes and softly sang the first verse to her favourite song. _

'_Huh? Is someone there?'_

_Hearing the human voice, she quickly raised her opened eyes up to see a young human boy with orange hair and eyes._

_End Flashback_

She shook her head and drove through the open gates of the school. That memory wasn't particularly dear to her, with good reason. Her hands tightened their hold on the steering wheel, her focus turning to the rearview mirror.

_What the…_

She could see the black Vios behind her car. She narrowed her brown eyes. 'Tam Kai Te? You again?' she murmured to herself. She focused on the reflected image of the tall raven haired teacher. Who _was _he?

The teacher's reflection showed him driving with only one hand on the steering wheel as he reached for something. She could also see the girl, Zhi Hui, smirking while holding up a phone to his ear. In the mirror, the teacher returned his free hand to the steering wheel while speaking into the phone, a look of annoyance suddenly crossing his face.

Lucia centered in on his face in particular, noticing the dark grey shade of his eyes. _Well, he's probably not a local._ She pressed her lips together. She turned a corner, noting again that the teacher was right behind her. _Does he live close to Lavena and Shusmeetha's house? Or is he just giving the girl a ride back home?_

He was hiding something, she just knew it.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

The very next day for the pink mermaid was… hectic, to say the least. The class of Year 2 Biru was full of hyperactive eight year olds that couldn't seem to quiet down. As soon as the recess bell rang, Lucia gave a contented sigh as she leaned back in her chair in the teachers' office.

_Finally, some peace and quiet._

She closed her eyes with a smile, only to have them snap open a moment later. She sat straight up, hand shooting to the slip of paper on her desk. She _never_ left papers on her desk.

Was that _kanji_? She hadn't seen it in a long time, mainly because none of the girls bothered to learn to write it, and the fact that they rarely spoke in Japanese. Still, there was no way that it could be the girls' writing — it was somewhat cursive and stylized, but it had an extremely masculine touch to the edges, and she knew who it was.

She turned around, glancing at the desk behind hers, colourful notes with similar writing styles filling most of the free space on the covers of the brown exercise books. She noted the teacher was absent, probably in the class next door. Glancing down at the note again, she frowned.

_Yep, it's him alright. Why the heck is he sending this note to me?_

'Without the seventh holder, the six will not be complete.' Lucia murmured the note's message under her breath.

The clear ringing of the bell cut through the sound the students downstairs. And as if on cue, the back door opened, the aforementioned teacher on her mind stepped in, behind him the class monitors, both carrying stacks of exercise books.

Her eyes narrowed. 'Maybe it's time to pay him a little visit.'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

After school, the girls had tuition, being a Thursday, and since Lucia was free, she went over to the school library, which, at this time, was already shut to the students. This was not a problem though, as Lucia was a teacher.

She stepped in and switched the computer on. Once the monitor showed the wallpaper of the school's appearance from a bird's eye view, she searched the files for the information on the teacher responsible for the class of Year Six Merah.

_Looks like my guess yesterday was right. _She paused briefly and did a double take. _He lives… that close to them? How did I never know about that?_

Inhaling sharply, she closed the files and shut down the computer. Lucia glanced at the clock on the wall.

'One quarter to two. I have about half an hour left.' she muttered to herself.

She left the library and headed towards the office, intent on getting her things from her desk. As she opened the door, she was startled by a tall, bespectacled girl pushing the door open from the inside of the office.

The girl brushed back her raven hair from her dark brown eyes and gave her a hasty apology, clearly somewhat embarrassed. As she slid past Lucia, the brunette heard her hum softly.

_Ai yori fukai omoi _

_Nanatsu no umi de umareta_

_She looks familiar… _Lucia thought. _Oh yes, she's that Zhi Hui girl Lavena mentioned yesterday._

The girl, Zhi Hui, walked further down the corridor before turning into the classroom next to the office. That particular classroom had a clear red plaque reading '6M' in bold white letters.

_Year Six Merah. So I was right. She _is _one of his students. _Lucia sighed and walked into the office, sinking gracelessly into her chair. _I have a bad feeling about today._

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Later that day, around five thirty, Lucia left Lavena and Shusmeetha's house with the thirteen year old in charge. Her trip was relatively short, even with her leisurely pace, so Lucia arrived at her destination in a little less than two minutes.

The house was built in a similar way as Lavena and Shusmeetha's, but with blue tiling on the roof instead of red and a blue gate instead of silver. Standing in front of the house, Lucia inhaled sharply and smoothened out the skirt of her cream coloured dress.

'七海老师?' (Miss Nanami?)

Lucia's vision snapped to the girl standing behind the gates. It was the same girl as yesterday, Zhi Hui, now dressed in a deep blue shirt under a dark violet jacket and denim jeans. She was also wearing blue floral sandals.

The girl pushed her glasses up from their dangerous perch on the tip of her nose and unlatched the gate.

'Ah, I forgot. Kai Te-sensei decided to give you another cryptic statement.' At Lucia's confused look, Zhi Hui laughed softly and elaborated, 'He likes to give me riddles. By the way, my name's Ong Zhi Hui. Sorry about yesterday, I was a bit rushed.'

Lucia blinked before nodding. 'I noticed.'

Zhi Hui smirked, a very familiar smirk that brought a sense of foreboding to her. 'In that case, come in, I think that my dearest guardian will want to see you, considering that he was the one who was hoping you would come over in the first place.'

Lucia looked at her, confused but she entered the house anyway. The living room was tastefully furnished, with monochrome colours being the common theme. One particular object caught her eye — a glass and wood cupboard which prominently displayed at least thirty trophies and medals altogether, most of the medals and trophies being gold.

A door crashed open and something came flinging towards them. Zhi Hui's hand shot up, catching the unidentified object in the palm of her hand. Opening her hand, she raised a dark bluish black brow at the small, glass container she held in her hand.

She turned to Lucia and gave a small, apologetic look before turning back and snarling out, 'Erwin Chang! Ng Wee Lip! Koh Chong Zhe!'

At once, three boys, all about her age, meekly appeared from behind a door. '_是… …是的？_'(Y-yes?) they stammered in Mandarin Chinese, voices synched.

The tallest boy swallowed nervously and finally asked, '什… …什么事情… … 治慧？' (_W-what's the ma-matter, Zhi Hui?)_

The girl turned a piercing glare on the boy that was at least half a head shorter than she was. Holding the decorated glass bottle carefully in her hand, she thrust it forward so the trio could see it.

The bottle had a metallic grey lid decorated with a blue and white ribbon. Inside were dried flowers, including rose petals and lavender. There were also some herbs inside, but the bottle had a blue butterfly design around the middle, blocking out most of it from view.

It was potpourri.

'Alright, I'll ask. Which one of you idiotic morons decided to go into my room and take my prized gift from an old teacher?' Zhi Hui put one of her hands on her hip, the other still hanging at her side, carefully holding the potpourri so it didn't crash to the ground.

When none of the boys answered, she raised her voice, the tone turning icy. 'Which. One. Of. You. _Idiots_. Did. It.' she ground out, hand tightening around the bottle.

'What did they do this time, Zhi Hui?'

The question was asked by a very familiar voice. Lucia turned her line of vision from Zhi Hui and the trio to the general direction that the voice was coming from. Leaning against the frame of the door she had just entered through not so long ago was just the person she wanted to see.

Tam Kai Te stood at the door, a black brow raised questioningly at Zhi Hui. The girl turned with a scowl on her face. The teacher saw the bottle and shook his head.

'Never mind.' The raven haired teacher sighed somewhat expectantly.

His grey eyes fell on her and he strode over. Lucia's gaze lingered on him, her brown eyes focusing on his face. The teacher was certainly tall, towering over her admittedly average height of 160 centimetres.

'You're here,' he finally said after a period of awkward silence.

Zhi Hui raised an eyebrow rather questioningly but instead resumed a cold glare at the boys, a frown marring her features again.

The teacher paused briefly and said to her, 'I'm guessing you want to know about the note?'

Lucia nodded silently.

He sighed. 'Fine. I'll explain. I just need—' He turned to Zhi Hui, only for her to smirk. 'You're going to take care of them aren't you?'

Zhi Hui grinned darkly. 'You have your business, _I have mine_.'

He shook his head and opened the door to another room, gesturing for her to enter. Giving Zhi Hui and the boys a brief glance, he entered, followed by Lucia, who then shut the door.

'Okay. Explain.' Lucia demanded.

He chuckled. 'Well now, it's been sometime since the last time we've met hasn't it been, pink pearl?'

_Pink pearl?_ Lucia thought, confusion printed on her face.

And then it all snapped into place. Only one person she knew would _ever_ call her that, and coincidentally, he looked identical to the teacher right in front of her.

'_Gaito?_' she asked in disbelief.

He smiled at her. 'Yes.'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui glared at the three troublesome boys she had the misfortune of being partnered with for some kind of idiot project that the counsellor had decided to give them. They had their studies to do; after all, this _was_ the most important year in their twelve-year-old life.

Well… maybe not to her. Her unbelievable luck and high grades rarely left her out of the first five places, in her entire class and year. Of course, she _did_ study… just only on the week before an exam. That _was_ okay… right?

Zhi Hui leaned back on the sofa, crossing her legs as she flicked through the channels before settling on Food Network. Out of the edge of her line of vision, she saw Koh Chong Zhe, the tallest boy; try to escape from his position on the floor.

She turned to give all three a piercing stare. They were kneeling with their hands on their head. Koh Chong Zhe immediately resumed his position, shivering at her cold glare. After all, she wasn't called the 'Tigress' for nothing.

'_所以？你们承认吗？_' (So, do you admit it?) Zhi Hui asked sharply in Cantonese.

'We didn't, uh, do…' the shortest boy mumbled, stumbling over his words as he had one of top twenty worst scores in his English paper in the class. He paused, dark brown eyes darting from side to side in an attempt to find the correct word.

'Anything?' Zhi Hui phrased with a cocked brow.

'Uh…right.' The boy, Ng Wee Lip, directed his gaze to the side.

'And what if I don't believe you?' Zhi Hui asked, leaning in dangerously close to the shorter boy with a cold edge to her words.

Wee Lip gulped nervously and shied away. She grinned darkly.

'_Okubyomono._' (Coward) Zhi Hui sighed, leaning back onto the black couch. She reached for the remote again, subtly flicking a finger in the direction of her guardian's door.

Subtly, the very fabric of reality shimmered briefly as she twisted it into a minor barrier to prevent anything the two in the room very talking about being overheard by the three on the floor. She grinned to herself at that and closed her eyes, changing the channel to a radio station, silently basking in the music.

A wave of ethereal energy smashed into her, feeling like butterflies and moths brushing against her pale skin. Her eyes opened and she sat up straight, a frown marring her features.

She stood and issued a sharp order to the three. 'If I'm not back in the next fifteen minutes, open the door and tell Mr Tam,' she snapped, walking out of the house and slipping on a pair of black sneakers.

Leaving the house, she gave the street a cursory glance before double taking in surprise. _What in Zeus' name is that? _She mentally panicked at the sight. Then she caught herself. _Wait a second, what am I doing? I _know_ how to handle these things._

She stepped out onto the street, latching the blue gates shut behind her.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lanhua callously sneered at the suburban housing estate she had appeared in. She flicked her long, purple locks, lustrous from her constant care. She scoffed at the simplicity that the houses had, dark red eyes barely even grazing across each surface. Her attention was drawn though, by a cool shout from behind her.

'Who _are_ you?'

She frowned, turning around and flicking her wrist before using the fluff tipped fan to partly mask her face. Arrogantly, she declared, '_Watashi wa Lanhua, yokubō to manzoku no tsubasada_,' (I am Lanhua, the wings of desire and contentment.)

The girl standing in front of her was tall, with raven hair and dark eyes framed by blackish-blue spectacles. She was wearing a lot of dark colours and her stance was one that she'd expect a Mermaid Princess to have when facing her. She was staring at her with a look of bewilderment clearly written on her features.

'Let me get this straight,' she said. 'your name is "Lanhua"? As in the flower?' She blinked. 'Wow. Your parents must really be messed up.'

Lanhua scowled. '_Anata ga kono mondai, _ningen_ ni kan'yo shite inai,' _(You are not concerned in this matter, _human_) she spat the word with venom in her voice. '_Ima, watashi no hōhō kara nukedasu!_' (Now, get out of my way!)

'Now why should I?' the girl quipped, her hands crossed over her chest in clear defiance.

Lanhua held back a snarl; this mere human was infuriating her to no end! She ground her teeth and took a step closer to the brat. The girl cocked a brow and smirked at her, warning bells suddenly sounded in Lanhua's head.

'_Kangaenaoshide wa, watashi ga nochini watashi-jin janai,_' (On second thought, you're not who I'm after.) Lanhua squeaked out and took flight, her large wings beating as she continued her search for the missing Princess of the Pink Pearl. _Now where is she?_

'_Watashi wa sō wa omowanai, ran._' (I don't think so, orchid.)

Lanhua yelped as she felt a hand on one of her wings, roughly pulling her down. The girl had tugged on the wing, leaving a sharp pain down Lanhua's back.

The girl eyed her coolly before speaking in a blithe tone. 'You're a demon, aren't you?'

Lanhua stared in surprise. How would a mere human know of what she was? Before she could voice her question, the girl elaborated.

'Wondering how? Easy. Your signature was too violent to be normal.'

Unfortunately, that just gave her more questions.

A small group of voices interrupted the girl from speaking further. Lanhua stared behind the girl, seeing three more girls of darker skin walking towards them, blissfully unaware of their existence… that is, until the tallest one, dressed in a purple dress and sandals looked up at the road.

She stared, her lack of response making the other two glance up, the shorter of the duo dressed in an orange dress while the other, who had the darkest skin of all three, was clad in a white shirt and a green skirt.

'What the**—**'

**_Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls_**

Lavena silently cursed to herself as she locked eyes with the butterfly-lady. She looked like that Lanhua character from Lucia-nee's old bedtime stories. Briefly, she noted that Zhi Hui had a death grip on one of the purplish wings.

'Uh, what's going on?' she asked, blithely ignoring Lavhanya's near swear.

Zhi Hui raised at brow at her, turning to the lady before speaking. 'The girl's right you know. It's about time you spill the beans on what a demon is doing here.'

Lavena paused. A demon? _Lucia-nee wasn't kidding about those? _she thought, near panicking.

'_Yoshi! Watashi wa anata o oshiete agemashou!' _(Alright! I'll tell you!) Lanhua, apparently, yelped out. '_Watashi wa pinku pāru purinsesu o mitsuke, Mikeru-sama ni kanojo o motarasu tame ni koko ni iru!'_ (I'm here to find the Pink Pearl Princess and bring her to Mikeru-sama!)

Lavena froze. _The Pink Pearl Princess? What does she want with Lucia-nee?_

Lanhua saw her expression and brightened up, flaring her wings to brush Zhi Hui away. '_Anata wa, anata ga, kanojo ga doko ni imasen shitte imasu ka? Oshiete!' _(You know where she is, don't you? Tell me!)

Lavena frowned and shook her head.

The butterfly demon scowled and flicked her fan, still in her hand, purplish-pink sparks emitting from the fluffy pink top. '_Anata wa watashi o oshiete kuremasen? Watashi wa anata ni suru hitsuyō ga arimasu!' _(You won't tell me? I'll just have to make you!) she screeched angrily, the sparks combining together into a large, purple tarantula.

'_Oh sweet, merciful Aqua Regina!_' Lavena shouted out.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Shusmeetha felt her knees go weak at the sight of the spider. Lavhanya seemed to notice and she pulled the shorter girl behind her. The spider pounced onto her older sister, large jaws snapping shut and springing open again.

Under her fear, Shusmeetha felt a bubbling rage when she saw the butterfly demon cackling in glee. She frowned deeply, but a shout from her sister reminded her of the spider. Swallowing, she backed up a little more.

_What should I do, what should I do?_ She panicked.

Lavena's scream reached her again and she moved, running past Lavhanya to the spider.

'No one hurts my sister. _No one!_' she shouted angrily.

The spider turned from her sister and crawled to her… and was blasted back with a stream of flames that burned it to a crisp.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui muttered lowly at the sight of the spider getting burnt. 'Hope orchids like tarantula flambé.'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Shusmeetha had her eyes closed tight, bracing for the bite of the spider, but when it never came, she cracked one of her eyes open. The spider was gone, and she was encased in warm, fiery orange. She opened both of her eyes.

A necklace, an orange shell with two wings on each side being the pendant, dangled from her neck. The locket-like pendant was open, and an orange pearl floated in front of her, pulsing warmly with orange light.

A voice, soft and motherly, echoed in her head. '_You have proved yourself truly worthy of the powers belonging to the Rainbow Note destined for you. But for now, I give you your pearl, the pearl…of fire._'

Shusmeetha watched as the pearl transformed into a pale blue microphone right in front of her eyes. Clasping it tightly, she shouted out words that came out of nowhere.

'Flame Pearl Voice!'

A steady stream of fire completely encased her in a cocoon. She felt her hair grow longer until it brushed her feet before it twined into low pigtails.

She twirled as fire wrapped around her torso, burning her bodice into existence. She stretched out her hands and streams of flames encased them, her gloves appearing in bursts of flame. Her boots appeared the same way as she spun in a circle.

Fire gathered at her feet before spreading upwards as she continued to spin, eventually breaking the cocoon and revealing her.

'I am the Guardian of Flames and the Protector of Warmth, Flame Pearl Voice! And with the force of my fire and the warmth of my song, I'll melt that cold heart! On behalf of the seven seas', I'll deliver your punishment!' she declared boldly.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui hummed lowly in agreement at the girl's declaration, silently observing her.

Her eyes were now a fiery orange, hair much longer and flowing down from two low pigtails in waves. Two orange ties, the same colour as her eyes, that had a bold red stripe through the centre held her hair in the pigtails.

She wore a pinkish-orange bodice with curled golden orange trim at the top, and red marks left a heart-shaped design near the curled area of the bodice. On her right arm was a puffy armband, with the same trim on both the top and bottom, the band itself was styled after the sleeves on Disney's Snow White dress, the same colour as the bodice.

Her skirt consisted of three golden orange layers, all ruffled and each longer than the one above it. The second layer was slightly darker than the other two, closer to the colour gold itself instead. The last and lowest layer was just as bright as the first, but even with all three combined the skirt barely reached mid-thigh.

Her gloves and boots were almost the same colour as her bodice and armband but a couple of shades lighter. Her gloves had a string of bright orange pearls around each wrist. The flat soled boots were the same, but with the golden orange trim set at a slanted angle around the ankles instead of the pearls. Ruffled fiery orange fabric curled around her calves.

Zhi Hui observed calmly as Lanhua started to stutter and stumble over her words.

'_Chigau! Rete inai mono mijimena kashu no betsu!_' (No! Not another of those wretched singers!) she finally screamed out loud in frustration.

_Another? _Zhi Hui thought briefly._ I thought so. Gaito-sama is right about one thing, those dresses are annoyingly girly._

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Shusmeetha stare briefly at Lanhua before she understood her statement. _Lucia-nee said that she sang…_

She closed her eyes as she felt the music start up. The lyrics came to her and it just felt so… right.

_Look at that… under the veil of the dawn_

_The candle dies out and lovers share a sweet kiss_

She sang sweetly, not noticing Lanhua's cringe at the soft melody. Clutching her microphone tighter, she raised her head proudly and continued.

_At the hidden cape of secrets, the two of them lay together_

_Listening to the melody of the wind's music box_

_I want to hear just a single word of true happiness_

_You know… since you are always with me, anytime you want is fine_

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lanhua shrieked at the horribly sweet song. She couldn't bear it! It was fortunate that this… mermaid wasn't that strong. She should be able to take her down with her own song when she finished.

_And hey… half of this world, is filled with an_

_Invisible miracle that is called 'true love'_

The mermaid finished her song and Lanhua sighed in relief. Scowling harshly at the girl, she mentally thought, _I'll get you for that you little brat! _Screaming out her thoughts, she started her song, summoning her servants.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Back at the house, the three troublemakers were seriously getting worried about the taller girl. Erwin checked his watch and muttered lowly to the other two. '十五分钟了，要去通知谭老师了吗？' (It's been fifteen minutes, should we tell Mr Tam?)

Chong Zhe nodded, the tallest boy standing up, followed by Erwin and Wee Lip. He put a hand on the door knob but paused. '你是班长，你开门，'(You're the class monitor, you open the door.) he said before pushing Erwin to the door.

Erwin glared daggers at him and knocked. No response.

'我们应该开门吗？' (Should we open the door?) Wee Lip squeaked out.

Erwin shrugged and turned the knob. Even though they didn't see it, the spell that had been placed there by Zhi Hui was removed as the door swung open.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lucia jumped as the door swung open, and from the looks of it, Gaito was slightly surprised too. He strode over to the three with a frown on his face.

'你们三个在干什么？' (What are the three of you doing?) he asked with annoyance written on his face.

'是治慧！' (It's Zhi Hui!) the boys near yelled. '她出去了，出去前她吩咐我们在十五分钟后通知你！' (She left, and before she did she told us to tell you after fifteen minutes had passed!)

Gaito frowned. Looking over his shoulder at her, he gestured to Lucia to follow. As the two left the house, he quietly spoke to her. 'Zhi Hui must have felt something. You'd better transform.'

Unsure of what he meant by his first statement, Lucia resolved to ask him later as she stepped out of the three boys' sight to transform.

'Pink Pearl Voice.'

It was quiet, a murmured statement, but her transformation ended, leaving her with her long blond pigtails and bright blue eyes again. She was also in her 'super' form. _Well,_ she considered._ They say never look a gift horse in the mouth._

When they saw what was going on though, Lucia was stunned, for two reasons that had a lot in common with each other.

'Let me guess,' Gaito muttered. 'The girls you were talking about?'

'Three of them,' Lucia corrected. 'And your protégé it seems.'

'Ward. Not protégé.'

'Fine. Ward.'

Lucia called out, having finished her banter with her former enemy, whose eyes were now the scarlet she remembered. 'Lanhua!'

Startled from her song, Lanhua looked and grinned darkly. She could tell that the demon was going to say something very clichéd. She glared and spoke before the butterfly could say anything.

'Not on my watch, Lanhua. _Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!'_

_Surely there is something that is shimmering beyond the seven seas_

_The story that leads all of life to paradise lies before the dawn_

_We will surely find out where all the white birds are flying off to_

_Embracing our far off dream, we left for the seas_

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Blithely ignoring the fact that the blonde was singing and the demon was close to screaming in terror and pain, Zhi Hui turned to her guardian and smirked. Gaito raised a brow questioningly at her.

'Considering that the boys had to open the door, I'm guessing the two of you had a lot of catching up done?'

Gaito gave her a look, to which she replied with a cocky grin.

'Yes,' he finally replied, turning to the blond mermaid. 'we had a _lot_ of catching up done.

_Flashback_

_Lucia stared at him in shock. He could understand; it wasn't everyday you see someone that's supposed to be dead alive and well._

'_How __— __What __— __Who__—__ ' Lucia stumbled over her words, clearly confused._

_He took a seat on the bed and gestured for her to sit on the swivel chair placed near his mahogany desk. She did, and he smirked, watching as she tried to make sense of whatever actually happened._

'_Trying to figure out what happened?' he offered to her. 'How about letting me tell the story?'_

_She nodded mutely._

_He exhaled and muttered lowly, 'Where to start? Where to start?'_

_Lucia paused and softly offered, 'The beginning would be nice.'_

_He chuckled. 'Certainly. The story should start right after my presumed death. Of course,' he muttered the last part under his breath. 'I should have died anyway.'_

_Disregarding his last statement, which he was sure that the brunette had heard, he continued with the tale. ' Aqua Regina kept me from death, how? Don't ask; I have no idea.'_

_Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lucia giggling softly at his statement._

_He shook his head, sighing a little. 'Let's see… After that she asked me for some help. Obviously, I accepted. Then she showed me something called the… Rainbow Notes, was it?_

'_And then she told me about some prophecy detailing on the Notes, I didn't bother to remember it, unfortunately. Following that, she informed me that she wanted me to keep an eye on a girl, which, if you haven't figured it out by now, is Zhi Hui.'_

_He kept an eye on her expression, noting that she was taking this very well. He hummed softly and glanced at the ceiling; there was still a long way to go._

'_She also told me about her… unique problem in comparison to the other six.'_

_Lucia looked up, suddenly far more alert. _

'_She's not a mermaid, if you're thinking about it. She's a Panthalassan,' he paused and added, 'pureblooded._

'_Aqua Regina sent me here, to Malaysia. I have completely no idea how, but she sent me to a secondary school here with a forged identity. Eventually, I met Zhi Hui and the rest is history.' He shrugged carelessly._

'_Not exactly,' Lucia pointed out. 'You left out how exactly Zhi Hui ended up as your ward.'_

'_That, princess,' he stated calmly. 'is a story for another time. I've told you my tale, so how about you return the favour?'_

_Lucia looked at him and Gaito smirked. He was really hoping that she would talk; he had a feeling that he would need to know some things._

_End Flashback_

_Within the treasure boxes of hearts are the songs of mermaids_

Gaito only smirked along with Zhi Hui as Lanhua screeched out her threat and promptly disappeared from the scene.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lucia approached Shusmeetha, a smile on her face as she hugged the young girl.

'Congratulations, Shusmeetha.' She smiled. 'You have your pearl.'

She could see the realization in the girl's eyes.

'Hey, I did! I did!' the girl cheered.

'I think that Shu Ting, Shu Qing and Yi Phing would love to see that!' Lavhanya cheered to her friend.

Lavena nodded. 'Plus, I still owe the two of you ice cream.'

'See you back home, Lucia-nee!' Shusmeetha shouted gleefully as she raced Lavhanya back home, Lavena following behind while shouting at them to slow down.

Lucia turned to the two Panthalassans, releasing her transformation in a slight pink glow. 'I was thinking…' she started. 'Would the two of you like to join me and the girls for dinner tomorrow?'

Gaito glanced at the younger girl, who started to tick off events on her fingers.

'Let's see, Friday is Madam Donglin's turn, so you have a free period… we should be able to make it,' Zhi Hui reasoned, slyly glancing at her at the last statement before looking back at her guardian.

Gaito smirked at her. 'It's a date then. I'll see you tomorrow.'

He turned and left with Zhi Hui, who smirked and walked off, winking at the brunette.

_Yeah,_ Lucia thought, walking off in the direction of her home. _Tomorrow it is._

_End Chapter_

* * *

**Sneak preview of the next chapter (done in canon format):**

**The green dressed demon arrogantly brushes back her hair and her wings flutter, the pink and white microphone twirling in between her fingers.**

_**Voice-over (Alala): I am Alala, the wings of dreams and depravity!**_

**She twirls her microphone in her hands before pointing it at the audience.  
**

_**Voice-over (Alala): And I'll make your worst nightmares come true!**_

**Alala starts to sing as her stars start to appear. Lavhanya puts her hands over her ears and shouts out, uncomfortable with the singing.  
**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): Not if I have a say in this.**_

_**Voice-over (Lavhanya &amp; Zhi Hui):**_**Jikai, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Tonbo ga hyouji sa remasu! Shizen no shinju no mezame! (_Next time, on Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, A dragonfly appears! The awakening of the nature pearl!_)  
**

_**Voice-over (Alala): I'll get you next time!**_

* * *

Oh wow. 28 pages in Calibri font, size 18. Can anyone guess what the original songs were? I translated then modified them so they could be sung along to the original beat.


	3. Chapter 2: The Nature Pearl's awakening

**So... no reviews this time... Ah well. Time to delve into Lavhanya!**

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_ (Translation)_  
_

_Thinking_

**Stories/ Tales**

* * *

_Chapter 2: トンボが表示されます！自然の真珠の目覚め! _(A dragonfly appears! The awakening of the nature pearl!)

Th sharp ringing of the school bell startled Zhi Hui out of her bored examining of the class from her seat at the back of the class. Lazily sweeping her dark brown gaze over the various words neatly scrawled on the whiteboard in blue, black and red, she sighed in relief.

Erwin and Brian, the two monitors called out the order for the class to stand and she complied, readily sweeping her things together to prepare to leave the class. The students bowed and filed out of the class, leaving Zhi Hui and the teacher, a young Chinese woman with long black hair tied into a high ponytail, the only ones in the class.

Zhi Hui zipped up her black schoolbag and casually slung the straps over her shoulders, walking out of the classroom after nodding farewell to the teacher. She exhaled slowly as she leaned on the corridor's walls, mentally running over her homework checklist in her mind.

_Let's see… I have the Maths exercise book still unfinished, my Science is done,_ she mused. _Malay doesn't have homework… except that essay, but I handed it in in class. Chinese, likewise, only had that workbook, which I did a week ago. Ah well._

She leant against the wall, her sharp eyes catching sight of a brunette who was followed by a cheery girl with dark, bluish hair. She frowned, adjusting her spectacles slightly. The girl had medium dark skin, slightly fairer than Lavena and Shusmeetha but not light enough to pass as a Malay girl. Her dark azure tinted hair was twirled into a graceful bun as per school regulations, several loose strands flowing freely in the slight wind.

Zhi Hui shook her head, silently noting that the girl in question was Yi Phing from Year Six Biru. She gave a short mutter of annoyance and raked a pale hand through her dark raven locks. _Athena, I must be losing my touch. _Zhi Hui groaned._ The blue hair should've been my first clue. Then again…_ she considered as she observed the two, Yi Phing excitedly chattering away to Lucia as they walked. _Doesn't she have a brother? I don't remember him having blue hair though…_

She shrugged.

_Whatever._

She calmly strolled down the stairs, right hand tucked in the deep pocket of her dark blue pinafore. She had barely descended a few steps before she stumbled, hand shooting out to catch the railing before she fell.

_What in Tartarus was that?_ She pressed her hand to her head, steadying herself from the blast of fire and dragonflies. _Ugh, I have a bad feeling about this._ Zhi Hui frowned deeply as she waited beside the black car belonging to her guardian.

Several minutes later, Gaito hurriedly walked out to her from the stairs. She stifled a smirk at his slightly dishevelled appearance, clearly he had been marking the essays — the look he had said it all. She repressed the sarcastic comment that was about to spill out of her lips and grinned, deciding that teasing would draw the line.

'How bad was it this time?'

He glanced at her, scowling at her obvious grin — she was having a little too much fun. She smirked, knowing that whenever he had essays to grade, lightly teasing him about the fact that _some_ of his students were still incompetent enough to grasp the simplest of concepts was the right way to go — that is, if you wanted to push his buttons.

Humming slightly as she shut the car door after seating herself beside him, she frowned as she turned to him. 'It couldn't possibly be _that _bad, could it?'

Gaito directed a pointed glare in her direction, of which she almost cheerfully ignored as she leant back in her seat. She noted his hands tightening around the steering wheel as he growled lowly. He muttered a string of swear words under his breath, creatively making use of the seven words one should never use while in polite company.

She chuckled to herself — it really was that bad. Zhi Hui maintained a calm look on her face as her grey eyed guardian continue to mutter about the failures he had just seen, tone clearly laced with frustration.

She almost felt bad for the idiots that were going to get it come next week. _Almost_.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Gaito groaned in frustration as he parked the car. Glancing sideways at his young ward, he noticed she seemed to be deeply immersed in her own thoughts and musings, to the point where she seemed to be ignorant of the fact that they were home.

He leant over, releasing the seatbelt and snapped his fingers in front of her face. She gave no response to him. Lightly, he tapped her shoulder, to which the girl still did not respond. He frowned.

Suddenly, Zhi Hui jerked up, dark brown eyes wide and pale face flushed slightly. 'Zeus help me, I'm going to have a bone to pick with them if this keeps happening,' she muttered darkly, a scowl crossing her face.

He cocked a brow questioningly at her before he flicked his black hair out of his eyes. She smiled apologetically at him before she released her seatbelt and opened the door. She slid out of the seat smoothly and shut the door with little force. Gaito's grey eyes followed her for a little more before he opened his door and stood.

_She's acting a little off… Something's up with her, well, not that I can actually intervene without her noticing anyway._ Gaito sighed. _I'll let her do as she wants then. _

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui tapped her mechanical pencil on the edge of the paper, humming slightly as she carefully deconstructed the mathematical problem within her mind. She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes as they swept over the slightly complex problem. She raised a brow at a small mistake she had made before she hastily erased it with her eraser.

_Okay, _she mused briefly as she changed it. _First off, the question is to find the average age of all the students, plus the teacher, so… _Brown eyes closed as the problem played out in front of her again_._ _Thirty boys with an average age of 15 years and ten girls with an average of 16 years, so… _She made a calculation on the side of the paper._ That makes it four hundred and fifty plus a hundred and sixty, then I have to add forty-six._

She reached for her eraser to clear away an unnecessary equation. _Now add it all together and divide by forty-one. _She made another few calculations mentally. _That's… sixteen? Okay. Sixteen. Great. I'm done._

Zhi Hui sighed, stretching as she stood. 'Thank Athena, I'm finally done,' she sighed. The raven haired girl paused briefly as another disturbance in the natural fabric of reality hit her. Frowning, she glanced at herself before turning to the door. Maybe it was time to take a hike up the mountain?

Yeah, she thought so.

Changing out of the indigo shirt and jeans, Zhi Hui slipped on a loose, white shirt and knee length black pants. Muttering lowly as her raven bangs fell over her brown eyes again, she made a mental note to cut her hair, grabbing a black band and pushing her hair into a ponytail. She turned the lights and fan off and walked leisurely towards the door.

Slipping on her socks and lacing up her dark blue and silver shoes, she turned to call her guardian. 'Gaito-sama!' Zhi Hui called, getting a response of a faint 'mm hmm'. She disguised her almost laugh with a slight cough. 'I'm going out!'

The door swung open and Gaito gave her a pointed look. She shrugged carelessly at him and he shook his head.

'It's not like I can stop you, can I?' His question was rhetorical as he shut the door.

Zhi Hui rolled her eyes and started off running towards the mountain near her house, her pace steady. She soon reached the foot of the rocky mountain terrain. The girl looked around, noting the absence of the shade that the trees had provided the last time she had been here.

'Looks like deforestation,' she mused. 'Well, either that or some idiots are cutting down the trees illegally.'

Shaking her head slightly and exhaling lightly, the preteen girl skilfully grabbed onto a rock ledge and swung herself up, right hand catching onto another as she swiftly scaled the ledge. Humming a bit as she near somersaulted onto the flat edge and onto the start of the rough soil track; Zhi Hui stood and brushed herself off.

She chuckled and placed her hands on her hips — she had barely broken a sweat. 'Now that,' she smirked. 'is how you climb a mountain ledge.' Laughing softly at her own statement, she hummed lowly and walked off, pace far more leisurely.

Accidentally, her foot scuffed on a stone. Her sensitive ears picked up on an unsure voice.

'Is someone there?'

Zhi Hui looked up, noting that she was under a particularly well grown tree. Her eyes caught sight of a flash of white and mint green. She shifted a bit to the left and saw Lavhanya, sitting sheepishly on one of the main branches.

She raised a raven brow. 'Well, what would you be doing here?'

The dark green haired girl gave her a very nervous smile before she yelped and scrambled up the branch. Zhi Hui looked up at her, hands on her hips as she waited for the younger girl to continue.

Lavhanya laughed a bit sheepishly, hands clutching tightly at the bark as she attempted to find a way to keep herself from slipping down. She shifted, uncomfortable, and winced a little as she tried another grip on the branch.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lavhanya peered down curiously as the taller girl disappeared from below the branches. She held onto the large branch as she leant down as well as she could while looking at her. The dark green haired half mermaid spotted Zhi Hui standing a good distance away from the base of the tree before she ran at it.

Lavhanya hugged the branch tightly, waiting the inevitable crash that would happen when the older girl crashed into the tree.

It didn't happen.

The girl opened her eyes, watching curiously as Zhi Hui ran _up_ the trunk for a bit before she pushed off and caught hold of a branch. The older girl then vaulted herself onto the branch, upon which she calmly walked over to Lavhanya.

Lavhanya blinked once. She blinked again. Thrice.

'Was that real?' she finally blurted out.

Zhi Hui raised a brow before she smirked. Ignoring her question, she glanced past her to examine the branches. Lavhanya turned, careful to hold on to the branch as she looked behind her. She almost fell out of the tree when the older girl somersaulted over her and onto one of the branches.

'You're inhuman,' she gaped.

The pale girl smirked and hid her laugh beneath a cough. She crouched on the branches and grinned at Lavhanya, white teeth glinting under the sun's rays that filtered through the leaves of the tree. Zhi Hui adjusted her spectacles as she checked downwards.

The dark green haired girl peered at Zhi Hui as she stood and continued to move down towards the end of the branch. She saw the Panthalassan give her a gesture of the hand that beckoned her over. Cautiously, Lavhanya crawled closer to her, only stopping when Zhi Hui's white shirt disappeared from the deep green and vivid viridian of the leaves.

'Come on, drop down.' The call was from Zhi Hui.

Lavhanya nervously pulled the leaves apart. She saw the older girl standing calmly beneath the branch, arms folded over her white shirt, raven hair blowing slightly in a wind that rustled the leaves. Lavhanya grabbed the ends of the branches with a nervous hold.

_I'm not so sure that this is safe…_ her subconscious muttered. Pushing back her doubts, Lavhanya swung herself over and hung by her fingers on the branch. She looked down and saw Zhi Hui impatiently tapping her foot on the ground. Flinching, Lavhanya let go and dropped down.

She was caught by a soft embrace before she felt the ground brush against her. She glanced at the bespectacled girl who, at that point, held a hand out to her and pulled her onto her feet.

Zhi Hui smirked at her and gestured up the track before she set off in a steady run towards the top of the mountain. Lavhanya stared in awe at her before she suddenly registered that she was being left behind. Yelping to the older girl not to leave her behind, she sped after her, pace hurried as she attempted to catch her before she disappeared from the younger girl's sight.

The dark haired girl chuckled as she finally caught up with her, panting slightly at being made to run up the steep slope while needing to remain safe on the unstable terrain. Lavhanya scowled sharply at her while trying to regain her breath. Lavhanya exhaled heavily and stood up straight; out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the taller girl tense up, brown eyes glazing over for a brief second before she once again took off, this time her pace far faster and much more erratic.

'He-hey!' She scrambled to catch up with her, nearly tripping over a root or two on her way. She stumbled back a bit and regained her balance before she darted forward again. She _was_ on the school track team for a good reason.

As Lavhanya clawed past the leaves of the trees and jumped over fallen trunks, she heard Zhi Hui's low breaths as well as seething. When she stopped to listen more closely, she heard rapid yelling in Japanese.

'_Naze sore ga watashi o intāseputo suru koto wa, tsuneni anata no hitotsu?' _(Why is it always one of you that intercepts me?)

She peeked out of thick green shrubbery and saw Zhi Hui, arms crossed over her chest and in a largely defensive stance. The mermaid hybrid jumped out from the green leaves and landed a little behind the older girl. Her eyes followed the older girl's line of vision and landed on a very odd girl.

The girl in question has prominent green hair, dark in tone but far lighter than her own near black shade. Her eyes were bright magenta, a darkly mischievous look in them. The girl was also shorter than Zhi Hui but considerably taller than she herself was.

She had two pairs of dragonfly wings as well as a green and white hued version of a demented Tinker Bell's outfit. A white and pink microphone with a gold star in the pink orb glinted in the light.

Lavhanya took a step back. She remembered her. She was the demon… Alala! Yes, that was it, she was Alala!

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui sighed, she had anticipated this. Then again, her foresight had always been vague enough to make her a Cassandra, but it was always right. And she always undermined her own ability. Ironic, wasn't it?

She sighed again. Her tone flat and boredom evident in her question, she finally asked, '_Kokoro wa watashitachi ni anata no namae o itte, anata wa Lanhua no dōmeikuni no hitotsuda ne to katei suruto?_' (Assuming you're one of Lanhua's allies, mind telling us your name?)

She paused and adjusted her spectacles. '_Jinsokude,'_ (Be quick.) she added, allowing a slight smirk to appear on her face. Best to rile her up and get this over with. _'__Watashi wa subete no nochi ni tamotsu tame ni sukejūru o motte iru__,' _(I do have a schedule to keep after all.) Zhi Hui tapped her foot on the ground impatiently as she observed the demon's facial expression.

She was clearly not too happy with her.

_Five…_

_Four…_

_Three…_

She looked back at Lavhanya, her smirk widening as she counted down.

_Two…_

_One._

The demon stamped her feet angrily. She hovered into the air, face as red as a tomato from anger. Her wings started to beat so hard a low buzzing could be heard.

Zhi Hui chuckled lowly to herself. She knew her stuff. The demon had the mindset of someone around eleven or twelve, which, considering that she was far mature for her age meant that she should be able to send the demon into uncontrolled rants.

'_Shimeta! Anata wa watashi ga dareda ka shiritai?' _ (Fine! You want to know who I am?) she shrieked in anger. _'Watashi wa Alala, yume to daraku no tsubasa o shite imasu!' _(I am Alala, the wings of dreams and depravity!)

Zhi Hui barely managed to bite back the peals of laughter that threatened to spill from her. Behind her, she could sense that Lavhanya was confused as to what she found so funny. Still on the verge of snickering, she managed to force out in English, 'Are you _serious_? Dreams and _depravity_?'

She finally lost it with that comment. Laughing to herself she glanced back at Lavhanya, who, despite somewhat understanding her statement, was still largely confused on her laughter. She returned her attention to Alala and received a slight start when she saw that Alala was on the ground again.

Her baton was sparking, emitting razor like stars. Zhi Hui swore and evaded the Locust-Eater Machines. Great, time to fight.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Alala was _this_ close to screaming. The taller girl was infuriating! Why oh why did she agree to take over from Lanhua?

_Oh yeah,_ she recalled. _I didn't think that she meant it when she said to stay away from the raven haired girl._

She scowled at the girl, who, having cut off her laughter, was now in a defensive stance, hands in front of her torso and feet wide apart enough to maintain stability. She twirled her microphone between her fingers and grinned dementedly. She would have fun.

_My cute gaze excites your pumping heart!_

_Ah~…I knew it…you are nailed down now by my gaze~_

_With the melody that you hummed_

_I want to make you fall in love with me!_

As she grinned subtly at her handiwork, noting with great pride that the dark skinned girl had her hands clapped over her ears. She fluttered to the sides and tossed her baton-microphone into the air before she caught it again.

_The morning awakes with the bright glow of sunlight_

_The promise that we made only yesterday…_

_I think I've already forgotten it_

_I would rather listen to the song of the wind anyway!_

_Beside__s, __the entire world revolves around me and only me!_

She turned to glare rather harshly at the taller girl, her wings beating a little harder as she noticed that she was cringing and her hands were slammed onto the ground, digging harshly into the soil as she hissed lowly. Alala frowned; she was acting differently!

_Open the Magical Door_

_Open the Box of Miracles_

_It seems we'll defeat reality!_

_My loving kiss excites your pumping heart!_

_Ah~…as I thought…You Love Only Me~_

_If I can wave the Baton of Stars_

_I would want to make you fall in a trance!_

'That's it!' the girl roared, leaping up to her and with a powerful sweep of her foot, caught the demon in her stomach, pushing her back several meters and making her crash into a tree.

Alala yelped out in pain as she managed to regain her balance. She fluttered up into the air, scowling in barely diluted anger as she glared sharply at the girl.

'Itai!' (That hurts!) Alala screamed, placing extra emphasis on her words as she ignited her signature flames around her.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui shook her head as she observed the flames start to spread to the trees. _'__喂，有没有搞错！怎么每次有火在烧的时候一定会有易燃物在附近的？得默忒耳和__赫菲斯托斯__, __有人真是等着中打的！'_ (You have got to be kidding me! Why is it that every time there's a fire, there's always something that's flammable nearby? Demeter and Hephaestus, someone is really in need of a beating!) she muttered lowly in Cantonese.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lavhanya stepped back in horror from the brightly raging flames. A tongue reached out to lick at her feet but she quickly stepped on it, extinguishing the flame and staying safe, at least for now.

She leapt out of the way of the slowly growing flames, taking great care not to leave herself in the path of the fire. When she heard Alala's near deranged ranting, she winced briefly and tried to make out what she was saying.

And then she heard the chirping and the squawks of the birds. It hit her like a truck that was, well, on fire. _Mercy of Aqua Regina! There are animals in there!_

Without a second thought, she raced into the woods, ignoring Zhi Hui and Alala's staring contest. She managed to avoid most of the flames, but when she saw the bent over, crooked tree which had low branches dipping over the side of the steep cliff, she panicked. She could see the small birds in the nest, the branch that the nest rested on was quickly coming close to being consumed in flames.

The branch cracked.

She dove at it and tossed the branch to the side, unexpectedly landing herself onto the branch, leaving her barely hanging by the tips of her fingers as she yelped in terror. She attempted to scramble upwards, but her hand continued to slip.

She gulped nervously as she tried to maintain her grip. When she heard a soft echo from behind her, she had to try her best not to let go as she spun around… or as well as she could while still dangling in midair.

'_Truly, when bravery is involved, your strength shines through. I shall skip the formalities, young one, and present you your pearl. The pearl… of nature.'_

A bright green flash drew the ten-year-old's attention to the locket that now dangled from a deep viridian string that hung around her neck. She clasped it tightly with her other hand and shouted out the first words that crossed her mind.

'Nature Pearl Voice!'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui hummed lowly as she continued her rather emotionless stare-off with the irritating demon. Her cool dark brown eyes seemed to glint as she smirked darkly at the scowling demon. The crackling of the flames as the air expanded barely bothered her.

'Alala!'

Zhi Hui turned unconcernedly as she saw Lavhanya running up to her. Calmly, she tucked a strand of raven hair behind her ear as she replied to the younger girl's statement.

'Ah, Lavhanya. I thought you might have fallen off a cliff.'

The younger girl had much longer hair, part of which was tied into a braid on the right side. The colour had also lightened to a forest green and her eyes, brown, were now a sharp emerald.

A pale green bodice was trimmed off by deep sea green on the top, with straps on either side, criss-crossing over her back, both the same colour as her bodice. The same ruffles, this time dark green again, crossed over her chest and intersected again at her waist. A jade green skirt, reaching her knees with faded honeydew green puffy veil-like cloth on top, spread from the waist line of dark green.

Deep sea green gloves, the exact same as Shusmeetha's covered her hands, only the trim, a mint green, replaced the pearls, cloth dark green. Her boots, likewise, were otherwise identical, if not for the pearls around her ankles instead of the swirl-like trim. The dark green of the boots were accentuated by the light green pearls, and the cloth was also the same deep sea green.

Lavhanya gave her a look that could only be described as 'Are you really saying this? Now?'

The younger girl then shook her head before she twirled her microphone between her fingers and declared out loud to Alala, 'I am the Agent of Flora and the Protector of Fauna! I'll let the sweetness of the flowers and the kind hearts of the animals overwhelm you! On the seven seas' behalf, I'll deliver your punishment!'

Zhi Hui raised a brow. That was starting to become cliché. Not even super sentai series do it anymore! She shrugged and decided to just watch as Lavhanya started to sing.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

_So I'm saying that I want to talk non-stop about love_

_Because I don't want for our only one world to become a cold and dark place_

Alala cringed. Not another of those songs! And to think she had thought she was finally free of those annoyingly uncute princesses when she agreed to find the Pink Pearl's missing princess.

With shock, she saw her flames die out as she crumpled to the ground, hands clapped over her ears as she shouted in pain. She yelled out in pain, trying to protest, '_Yamete!'_ (Stop!)

_I gazed into the lens of our future shimmering in the waves_

_And saw the entire seven seas combine_

_I could see the link coming from our mother's song_

_From all of us our pure hearts and our precious sympathy_

_Our tears are a small ocean? I can say that I believe that is true_

Alala could see the raven haired girl nonchalantly examining her nails and humming lowly to herself as she directed a finger in the direction of the burnt forest. She flicked her wrist, a vague distortion spreading from the tips of her fingers. Slowly but surely, the burnt bark restored itself and leaves sprouted anew.

She gasped. How did she just undo all of her handiwork?

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

_Just one person's non-stop love can become a miracle_

_Even if that love only lasts for just one night_

_Being born from the blazing sun high up in the blue sky_

_The fever of love is definitely love's true temperature after all_

Lavhanya ended her song and winked at Alala. 'How about an encore?' She grinned.

Alala shrieked in rage and attempted to teleport away. Before she could, though, Zhi Hui caught her wrist and tossed her over the tree, leaving her dangling from the same branch that Lavhanya had been dangling from.

She screamed in anger and finally disappeared, face nearly purple with rage. Lavhanya blinked once, and again. She glanced around at the burnt trees and frowned, until she finally saw the single, unharmed tree.

She frowned. 'How?' she wondered out loud.

Beside her, Zhi Hui smirked. 'Nature hmm?' Try concentrating on returning the forest.' The older girl hummed beside her for a few seconds.

Lavhanya gave her a look before nodding. She closed her eyes and pictured the forest in a flourishing state, not too overgrown but exactly enough to compensate for Alala's damage.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui adjusted her spectacles and watched as the burnt trees slowly regenerated and returned back to normal, before bursting with life. She hummed lowly and directed a hand to discreetly channel her own energy into restoring the natural state of the vegetation through twisting the very fabric of reality.

She smirked when Lavhanya opened her eyes and watched in awe as the forest's greenery appeared in full view in front of her. She watched with amusement as the younger girl gaped in wonder. Lightly patting her shoulder, Zhi Hui blew her bangs out of her eyes and glanced past her. She frowned.

'What's the time?'

'Huh?' Lavhanya blinked owlishly.

'What's the time?' Zhi Hui repeated. 'Or, if you don't understand English, I'll try Chinese.' A heavy sarcastic undertone could be heard. '_现在几点了__?' _(What's the time now?)

Lavhanya scowled. '我听得懂英文的！' (I can understand English!)

'Good,' Zhi Hui snarked. 'Then what's the time?'

'Yeesh,' Lavhanya muttered indignantly. 'I'd say around six?'

Zhi Hui hummed lowly as she observed her surroundings. They would probably get back in ten minutes, that is, if Lavhanya could catch up with her. But…

She glanced to the cliff. _Well, _she reasoned._ It's not like it's going to hurt me._

She beckoned the younger girl over before she somersaulted over the cliff end. Zhi Hui could feel the wind in her hair and whistling in her ears before she finally caught hold of a branch and landed safely on the ground. She started to twist the fabric of reality to her needs as she once again motioned to the younger girl.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lavhanya stared down. Was Zhi Hui seriously telling her to jump off a cliff? She nervously peeked down; Zhi Hui was still gesturing to her.

Finally, she steeled her resolve. _Well, Zhi Hui saved me once… Or, was it really her?_ She shrugged. _Ah well, jump it is._

She looked to her pearl, which flared and released her transformation in a brilliant glow of green. Back in her white shirt and green shorts, she nervously dragged her sneakers on the ground.

She jumped off; eyes squeezed shut as she fell. After what seemed like forever, but was actually just a couple of seconds, she hit a soft, mattress like structure. Lavhanya finally opened her eyes and found herself on the ground.

'Wait, what?'

She could hear Zhi Hui snicker. 'Never mind that, we still need to get to Lavena and Shusmeetha's house!' Lavhanya yelped as she shot up.

Zhi Hui shook her head as the younger girl dashed off. Lavhanya could hear her mutter, 'Amateur.'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Gaito checked his watch and frowned. Zhi Hui was late. _Then again…_ he glanced at the other girls.

A knock sounded.

Lucia walked through the door with both Zhi Hui and one of her charges, Lavhanya, if he wasn't mistaken, trailing behind her.

'Well you're late,' he casually remarked to Zhi Hui. 'What happened?'

She shrugged. 'Oh, nothing.' The bespectacled girl smirked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she shared a glance with Lavhanya, who, in turn gave her a nervous laugh.

Gaito briefly looked to Lucia. In unison, they smiled at each other. At least those two were getting along.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Alala frowned as she reported her findings to her master. The Ancient had his eyes closed and his arms were folded across his chest.

'Lanhua.' Mikeru scowled.

The butterfly demon bowed her head slightly, eyes quickly averting. '_Hai, Mikeru-sama._' (Yes, Mikeru-sama.)

'_Naze anata wa… Korera no ningyo o watashi ni shiraseru tame ni fitto mite imasen ka?' _(Why did you not see fit to inform me of these… mermaids?)

Lanhua remained silent.

'Lady Bat.'

The vampire demon stepped up, a vicious grin decorating his face as he proudly bowed to the Ancient. Beside him, Lanhua bristled in anger.

'_Mikeru-sama o shinpai suru hitsuy__ō wanai, boku wa karera no sewa shimasu.' _(Not to worry, Mikeru-sama, I will take care of them.) he near purred in delight.

'_Hij__ō ni yoku, anata ga shite hikitsugimasu.'_(Very well, you will take over then.)

Lady Bat grinned. Time to shine.

_End Chapter_

* * *

**Sneak preview of the next chapter (done in canon format):**

**The demon grins darkly at the girls as his wings fold behind him.**

_**Voice-over (Lady Bat): The time has come, sweet children. I am Lady Bat, the wings of love and pleasure!**_

**He smirks and starts to sing.**

**_Voice-over (Lady Bat): Now give your minds to me!_**

**Zhi Hui sighs.**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): Boy is something going to go wrong...**_

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): **_**Jikai, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Shinpi-tekina bijon! Batto ga tsuini toujou! ****(_Next time, on Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, A mysterious vision! The bat finally appears!_)**

**_Voice-over (Lady Bat): Why does this always happen? I'll be back!_**

* * *

Okay, again, can anyone guess the songs? Alala's is pretty obvious, but chance a guess for Lavhanya's.

Shusmeetha's song was Sekai de Ichiban Hayaku Asa ga Kuru Basho. The ong that Lucia sang was Nanatsu no Umi no Monogatari ~Pearls of Mermaid~. I'll see you guys next time, on another episode, err, chapter of Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls!


	4. Chapter 3: The bat finally appears

Okay, mostly filler here, but I need a chance to show what the girls do, and to introduce Lady Bat. Plus, it does give more chance to absorb the girls'personalities before I carry on with the story. It's short, only three thousand words or so, but then again, it is filler.

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

**Stories/ Ta****les**

* * *

_Chapter 3: 神秘的なビジョン！バットがついに登場__！(A __mysterious vision! The bat finally appears!)_

Lavena drummed her fingers on her desk as she tried to focus on her teacher's lecturing.

'_Jadi, jawapannya ialah "A".' _(So, the answer is 'A'.) The teacher, a middle aged Malay woman wearing a green and blue _baju kurung_, walked through the gap in the lines of desks. She sharply rapped on Lavena's wooden table as she called her name. _'Lavena, kamu ada dengar tak?'_ (Lavena, were you listening?)

Lavena shot straight up in her seat. _'Ya-ya, Cikgu, saya ada dengar!' _(Yes-yes, teacher, I was listening!)

The woman was about to continue, but the ringing of the school bell quickly startled all of the students.

'_Bangun!'_ (Stand!) called the monitor, a short Malay boy who, while an intelligent student, didn't have much in the way of a social life.

Lavena paused a bit, her eyes glazing over as she 'heard' a whispering voice. Vague, fuzzy images passed before her eyes. She could see a purple mermaid presiding over a court. Mermaids from all over the seas were in the jury.

'_You are hereby judged guilty!'_

Lavena shook her head, as if she could shake herself free of the images that way. Surprisingly, she did. She blinked. 'What happened?' she muttered to herself. She sighed and slumped in her chair, head pressing back as she stared at the ceiling.

The dark purple haired half mermaid stood and slid her things into her bag — she could tidy it later. Walking out of her school at a moderate pace, she headed towards her sister's school, right hand in the pocket of her pinafore and the left hefting her bag over her shoulder every time it slipped. The scorching heat of the afternoon sun as it beat down on her head was the farthest thing on the thirteen-year-old's mind at the moment; no, not even her _Sejarah_ (History) homework was worrying her and that was even though she had failed her exam last month!

The problem that was eating away at her was the, admittedly worrying, vision-of-sorts she had just seen. The judge, the purple mermaid, she knew, was not the Purple Pearl Princess, Karen, that Lucia-nee had once spoken so fondly of. No, this mermaid wore thin, barely there glasses and her hair was almost white in tone; the Purple Pearl Princess had light hair, but it was still of a darker shade, and she most definitely did not wear glasses!

Lavena paused outside the gates of Pokok Assam, eyes half closed and somewhat unsteady on her feet. She took her right hand out of the pocket of her light blue pinafore and pressed it to her forehead. She felt dizzy. The half mermaid saw the world spin and then, she lost consciousness.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Half an hour later saw the girl waking up in the school's infirmary. On either side was a younger girl, both looking near identical, save for the fact that one had dark, but prominently brown hair and the other had dark bluish locks. Both had dark brown eyes and were wearing the school uniform of the primary schools.

'Ugh,' Lavena muttered. 'Shu Ting? Shu Qing?'

The brunette, Shu Ting perked up and smiled widely at her. She stood and stretched before she called out. 'Lucia-nee! 'vena's awake!' The other girl, Shu Qing, which, despite looking highly similar to Shu Ting, was not her relative of any kind, hummed 'Legend of Mermaid' under her breath and stood, following the beat by swishing her finger in the air.

Lucia stepped in, followed by the school nurse, a matronly Malay woman. Reluctantly, Lavena let the woman check her over for anything unusual.

The woman smiled lightly at her before turning to the brown eyed pink mermaid. Lavena caught slight bits and pieces of the conversation, but little else. She sighed and watched the two eleven-year-olds giggle at some kind of joke she had missed. A couple of seconds later, the woman left and Lucia gestured for the girls to follow her.

Lavena was handed her violet bag, decorated with anime pins depicting Sailor Moon and the Senshi as well as Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z. The half Indian girl rummaged through her things for a bit before she pulled out a notebook, filled with small doodles, some of which was of her teachers in school with added devil horns, and a moustache on the random picture. She hastily dropped it back, getting the sound of it falling onto her metal pencil case before she grabbed hold of the plastic, 1.5 litre water bottle, still half-filled with water. The thirteen-year-old caught Lucia's disapproving look when the woman saw the water level and hung her head slightly in embarrassment.

She was going to get it when she got home; Lucia would drill her on the importance of finishing her water. Yep, she was done for.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

It was five o'clock, several hours after the incident and also Lucia's subsequent scolding of Lavena. The thirteen-year-old was busy scribbling down answers on her homework while she listened to the younger girls chat.

Yi Phing, a year younger than her but just as childish, cut into Lavhanya and Shusmeetha's argument, her high-pitched voice light and cheery as she tossed her blue hair over her shoulder. 'Hey, 'meetha, Lav,' the twelve-year-old lightly interrupted. 'That's enough. 'vena's still not done with her homework.'

'Actually,' Lavena interjected as she snapped her book shut with a snap and shoved her blue pen into her pencil case. She swept the things into her bag, barely bothering about the clutter in it. 'I'm done, so don't stop on my behalf.'

The five girls finally realized that they had been talking very loudly. It didn't help that Lucia was out either. No one was home, not even Lavena and Shusmeetha's parents, who were in Ipoh visiting their cousins.

She blew her dark purple hair out of her brown eyes and leant back in her chair. She closed her eyes and attempted to relax, exhaling as she drummed her fingers on her desk, empty of her homework but filled with various papers and assignments.

'_You are hereby pronounced guilty!'_

Her eyes snapped open as she shot to her feet.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Shu Qing fell back onto Lavena's neon purple covers as the older girl shot to her feet. The eleven-year-old girl yelped as she hit the bouncy mattress, her limbs splaying out and her dark bluish hair fell into her eyes. She sat up, undoing the half ponytail she wore and tying it again, segregating the ponytail into sections with ice blue bands, the style that Lucia had likened to sugar cane.

She pouted slightly and flicked her hair at the memory. She gave Lavena an off-handed glance. She saw that the older girl was being quiet and withdrawn, unlike her usual bright and cheerful attitude that was pretty much the norm for all of them… that is, them as in the six girls that were in the room.

'Hey girls?' Shu Qing voiced out. The other five turned to look at her from their chat. 'How about we go to the playground for some fresh air? I know I'm suff-suffocating.' She gave a slight stumble when she was trying to pronounce the last word, making her giggle nervously, hoping no one heard it.

'Okay!' the girls chimed in unison.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

The six girls each swiped a spot on the playground set as soon as they got there. Lavena chose one of the two swings, quietly kicking off and swinging back and forth just slightly. Shu Ting noticed it; she wasn't very observant, but Lavena always reminded them to be careful. The brunette frowned slightly at her friend and surrogate 'older sister'.

She glanced around and saw that Lavhanya, ever the athlete, had claimed the monkey bars as her own, and was currently hanging upside down from them with her feet between two rungs and her hands tightly holding the pillars of the structure. Lavhanya grinned briefly and reached out, swinging herself to the top of the bars and sitting casually on top with her feet swinging over the edge of the glaring blue and orange monkey bars.

Shusmeetha, obviously having seen her sister's less than happy state of mind, had sat down beside her on the swings, chatting brightly about her day to her in an attempt to cheer her up. '-and then, Lav dropped the thermometer. It broke and mercury spilt all over the place. Ms. Nang said that she's never going to let Lavhanya touch the thermometer again!' While still talking, Shusmeetha was swinging back and forth on the swing, her feet moving in sync with her swinging.

Yi Phing was on the top of the slide, grinning at Shusmeetha's story while listening to Shu Qing's colour theory. Her feet were tucked by her side and her ponytail bounced as she nodded half-heartedly at Shu Qing. She undid her ponytail before using one of the baby blue bands from the packet she carried with her to tie her hair, the bright blue and the dark blue going fairly well together.

Shu Qing was seated at the end of the slide, hands moving in gestures as she talked quickly and impatiently to Yi Phing. Her feet stomped on the ground slightly as she sometimes kicked the grass by accident. She wore a frown on her face and she kept looking at Lavena from time to time.

Shu Ting herself was claiming the steps that led to the monkey bars and the connected slide for herself. She continuously strapped the Velcro shoe straps together before pulling them apart and repeating the process.

She looked at the sun, shielding her eyes first to avoid blinding herself. It was hanging low on the skyline, getting ready to set. The girl frowned, she had never really liked sunsets, nor the night that followed, for that matter.

She heard a sudden sound from Shu Qing, who was standing at the end of the slide. She stamped her foot on the ground for a few seconds, the pink and ice blue shoes hitting the grass hard. 'Oh come _on_ 'vena!' Shu Ting heard her near twin complain. 'You've been acting upset for almost the entire day! What's up with you, anyway?'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Shu Qing huffed as she held up a hand when she saw Lavena was about to talk. 'No — forget it, just forget it.' She dropped down on her spot at the end of the day-glo orange plastic slide and huffed.

She sighed and rested her elbows on her knees, covered by the pink skirt decorated with ice blue snowflakes. She pressed her chin into the palms of her hands and stared at the setting sun.

_The iridescent winds of the seven seas come forth_

_And I see that it blows at a far off coast_

_Before the dawn comes, I hear a sweet song playing_

_It truly is a very nostalgic melody_

Shu Qing looked at her friends as she sang the lullaby Lucia used to sing to them when they were much younger. Sure, she had no idea what the words 'iridescent' or 'nostalgic' meant, but they were fairly big words, and they made her feel smart… Yeah, she knew that was a dumb excuse for not checking a dictionary…

_I see the birds that are flying_

_Towards the glowing eastern sky_

She looked back at Yi Phing, who was smiling at her as she continued the verse with all the practiced ease that came from knowing the song by heart. Shu Qing smiled brightly.

_They now escape towards the Promised Land_

_Using this path_

Shusmeetha's higher voice and Lavhanya's blended together as they chorused the song in unison. Shu Qing had only a split second to look grateful before Shu Ting, her twin-in-all-but-blood joined in with the chorus.

_The paradise of the seven seas lies therein_

_When the stormy night passes, I know I'm safe_

_Finding a way to tell you my love_

_That I will surely be born again_

Shu Qing could hear Lavena join in as she sang along with all the others in unison to the song, Shusmeetha and Lavhanya singing the high harmony while Lavena and Yi Phing synchronized to the low harmony. Shu Qing and Shu Ting continued to sing along to the melody that all the girls knew and loved.

_Even if there comes a day when we will part_

_Everyone has to leave our shared home and heart_

_As long as we sing our melody_

_I will not forget the seven seas_

The girls hummed the ending to the lullaby and giggled out loud, including Lavena, who was now smiling. Shu Qing smiled; despite anything and everything, the girls were close-knit, closer than sisters and basically… whatever the word for seven kids was, in all but blood… except for Lavena and Shusmeetha that is.

Shu Qing did _not_ expect the voice that spoke out next.

'_Natsukash__ī nankyouku, ningyo,_' (What a nostalgic song, mermaids.) The voice was somewhat mocking, and while almost certainly male, held a… girlish quality to it?

Shu Qing and the girls snapped their heads to the side and saw someone, the owner of the voice. He… or she, whichever it was… was considerably tall, with long dark reddish hair in a ponytail. He… or she, again, whichever it was, was wearing a frilly, long sleeved white shirt and… was that a miniskirt that she saw?

'_Okay,'_ Shu Qing thought. '_If this guy is male then he really needs to see a psy-psychowhatchamacallit.'_

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lady Bat haughtily smirked at the young girls; they were a bit young for his tastes, but that meant that they would be even more susceptible to his song. He laughed to himself and grinned widely at them; he saw their eyes widen and could tell they saw his fangs.

'_Boku wa Lady Bat,'_ (I am Lady Bat) he introduced himself, placing his hands on his hips. '_Ai to yorokobi no tsubasa. Saa,'_ (The wings of love and pleasure. Now,) His grin grew to Cheshire proportions as he stepped closer to them, the brunette in yellow and the dark bluenette… if that was even a real word… in ice blue in particular. Somehow, they reminded him of the Yellow Pearl Princess, albeit much, much younger. _'Anata no sutekina shoujo wa Pinku Pāru Purinsesu ni boku o toru koto wa arimasen ka?' _(Won't you lovely girls take me to the Pink Pearl Princess?)

The girl with dark purple hair, the one that seemed to be the oldest leapt to her feet. 'No way cross-dresser! You're with Lanhua and Alala!' she yelled at him, index finger pointing accusingly at him. 'Lav, 'meetha, now!' she yelled.

The two girls, one with dark orange-brown hair and the other with dark green, both nodded and clasped the shell necklaces that hung from their fragile necks.

'Flame Pearl Voice!'

'Nature Pearl Voice!'

Bat cursed as the two simultaneously transformed into the two that Lanhua and Alala had complained about. He scowled and glared, arms folding across his chest as they stared him down and promptly declared their little speeches, just as Lanhua and Alala said they did.

'I am Flame Pearl Voice!'

'I am Nature Pearl Voice!'

'And on behalf of the sea, we will punish you!' they chorused in unison.

He blinked. That was…_ unexpected_, to say the least. The Princesses never did that. He shook himself free of the surprise, just in time to interrupt their little declaration before they sang.

'_Ah ah ah,' _he mocked, wagging his finger at them before he took to the sunset skies, spreading his wings out with pride as he felt the beat of his song course though the scene.

He grinned. '_Itsu Shō Taimu_,' he purred in a clear mimicry of the Black Beauty Sisters' call.

_More beautiful than a blood red rose, more seductive than the midnight moon_

_If you want that precious life of yours returned, then force yourself to bloom in this hand_

He threw his hand out to the mermaids, all of whom suddenly looked tired as their hand dangled by their sides. He grinned, his fangs glinting in the post sunset light

_The door to the world of darkness will now open once again_

_Now, you can just leave everything to your cruel fate, and be reborn once again_

The six girls looked even more tired and somewhat sleepy now, like his song was affecting them more than he actually needed. He carelessly shrugged it aside and continued with the song; even if they fell asleep, he could get the information once he was done, after all, his hypnotism worked no matter the circumstance.

_Close those heavy eyelids of yours in the black night, now you may find the midnight masquerade_

_Now slip into the eternal darkness. Come now, my dear! There is no reason to be afraid_

_And be there for all of eternity_

He would have continued, note the keyword there was 'would'. A dark purplish-black bolt of lightning slammed into the base of his head, disrupting his concentration and subsequently awakening the mermaids. As Bat fought to get his head straight, he heard a voice, obviously annoyed.

'Next time I don't care if Zhi Hui has some plan; she's going to do the rescue mission, I'll get Lucia.'

The effeminate demon didn't exactly get much time to even process another thought; the young mermaids recovered surprisingly fast, as he learnt when the two that were transformed snapped out of the trance he put them in.

'Hey, freakazoid!' he heard the yell of the one he recognized as the green haired girl. He snapped back and very nearly freaked.

'Pichi Pichi Pitch, Live Start!'

The demon's deep indigo eyes widened, the cat-like pupils shrinking as he heard the song starting. He had noticed the change from the Mermaid Princesses' declaration, but that barely even registered as the mermaids started to sing.

_Just one person's non-stop love can become a miracle_

_Even if that love only lasts for just one night_

_Being born from the blazing sun high up in the blue sky_

_The fever of love is definitely love's true temperature after all_

He flinched and yelled as he clapped his hands over his ears. _This is just as bad as the Mermaid Princesses! _He yelped silently, only to scream out as they continued.

_You know, treasures were made to send_

_Back to everyone…_

_Those pure and pretty items have been left behind_

_Without losing itself to the pranks of time_

_My own heart is always headed towards warm places_

Bat's eye twitched as he screamed in frustration and pain. He hissed as he forced out a death glare at the two, who were obviously enjoying the song, and were blissfully ignorant about the pain they were causing. _Obviously_, he thought dryly, since the young girls didn't look like the kind that would want to voluntarily hurt another. _And besides_, he winced. _Screw my earlier comment; this is even worse than the Mermaid Princesses songs!_

_Flowing gently, I do believe that one day we can surely meet again_

_Because the wind was able to escape from the island_

_Surely that must be a sign that dawn is close_

_The true temperature of love is what I can feel now_

Lady Bat finally fell to his knees, panting heavily in an attempt to reclaim his dignity. Finally, he lost it and retook to the skies, hands clenched into fists as he glared at the two, who promptly stuck out their tongues at him and blew raspberries.

'How about an encore?' they mocked, wearing wide, childish grins that could only be fit to appear on kids like they were.

'_Lanhua to Alala garasu wa anata ni taisho suru hōhō watashi mo shirimasen! Boku wa akirametaga, anata wa boku no saigo o mite imasen!'_ (I don't even know how Lanhua and Alala dealt with you! I give up, but you haven't seen the last of me!) Lady Bat yelled in frustration as he threw his hands up into the air. He vanished in a swarm of black bats, a stream of curses and swearing following the disappearance.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

'Okay, ow?' Lavena muttered, rubbing her head as she sat back down on the swing. 'My head is killing me.'

The girls nodded in agreement and inevitably jumped when they heard another voice snort and talk.

'That's to be expected, I suppose, especially when dealing with a mind screw like you just did.'

'_Gah!_' Shu Ting and Shu Qing yelped in tandem as they both fell flat onto their rears after tripping back on the slide's left side. They winced and muttered under their breath, most probably something in Hainanese, Shu Ting's ancestors' native tongue.

Now that the two were out of the way, Lavena finally saw the reason for their startled jump into the air. Gaito was leaning against a tree, arms folded across his chest and smirking at them. She scowled at him, and the teacher's smirk widened as he finally walked over.

'Zhi Hui would have made a much better showing,' he chuckled. 'In fact,' he looked over his shoulder. 'There she is.'

The girl strolled up, hands in her pockets, the same smirk written on her face as she cordially nodded to them before she leant a bit closer to Gaito and muttered something to him. He reeled back slightly and stared at her, prompting the younger girl to chuckle softly. Zhi Hui blew her hair out of her eyes and adjusted her spectacles, her smirk widening as the six's dumbfolded expression became even clearer.

'Girls!' Lucia ran up, ponytail a bit messy and clearly relieved. 'Thank Aqua Regina you're okay!'

Shusmeetha bounced on her heels a bit as she released her transformation in a shower of orange, as did Lavhanya in green. 'Say, Lucia-nee,' Shusmeetha chirped to the brunette as she bounced over to her. 'Can I and Lav…'

Lavena couldn't catch what she said next, she was still a bit out of it from the cross-dressing demon. She shook her head and cleared it enough to see that the girls were already running off. She ran after them, just in time to catch part of an exchange between Gaito and Zhi Hui.

'Well then, I'll be off, there's still seventeen books left to mark. Ah, which reminds me, why bookmark your homework with piano sheet music, For Elise of all things, even?'

'Eh,' Zhi Hui hummed, shrugging her shoulders carelessly. 'I was practicing piano the other day.'

_Wait, Zhi Hui plays the piano?_ Lavena briefly thought. _Oh whatever!_

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui hummed as she watched Gaito walk away, muttering under his breath about the 'idiots that were going to drive him crazy one day'. She chuckled under her breath and stared at the darkening sky. Already fully red and painted with bits of darker purple and indigo, night was fast approaching.

She pulled off her spectacles and stared off into the darkening clouds, eyes closed as she sighed before she opened then again.

A dark frown crossed her face. _I thought so._

She bit her lower lip, hard. 'Something is going to happen, and soon. And that something is going to be bad, very bad.'

She shoved her hands into her pockets and narrowed her eyes. _Too bad I don't know what it is._

_End Chapter_

* * *

**Sneak preview of the next chapter (done in canon format):**

**The two demons stood back to back in their signature pose, microphones in hand, ready to sing.**

_**Voice-over (Sheshe): Older sister Sheshe!**_

_**Voice-over (Mimi): Younger sister Mimi!**_

**They grin maliciously and look at the audience.  
**

_**Voice-over (Sheshe &amp; Mimi): We are the Black Beauty Sisters!**_

_**They start to sing as Zhi Hui stands there, looking bored.**_

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): Talk about a blast from the past.**_

_**Voice-over (Lavhanya &amp; Zhi Hui):**_**Jikai, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Kako kara no bakufuu! Akua shinju no mezame!(_Next time, on Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, The blast from the past! The aqua pearl's awakening_)  
**

_**Voice-over (Sheshe &amp; Mimi): We'll be back!**_

* * *

And we're done with another epis- chapter! Chapter, not episode, CHAPTER! Lavhanya's song was Ai no Ondo °C, anyone who's been reading but not reviewing, notice a pattern? You'll see another when I'm done with the next chapter. And I seriously can't believe I wrote whatchamacallit. Apparently, that's a real word.

In case you couldn't put together what Shu Qing was saying, she meant a 'psychiatrist' or a 'psychologist'.

Next time, we'll be looking at a blue character, parallel to Hanon. And PGSM fans, you might want to tune in. I put in a lot of refs to BSSM, or Sailor Moon, and three song references to the live-action adaption.


	5. Chapter 4: The Aqua Pearl's awakening

Now I'm finally done with Yi Phing's chapter, so it's time to see what she can do!

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

**Stories/ Ta****les**

* * *

_Chapter 4: 過去からの爆 風！アクア真珠の目覚め! (The blast from the past! The aqua pearl's awakening!)_

Yi Phing huffily sat down on the rear seat of Lucia's car, scowling slightly. Out of the six girls, Lavena had claimed the passenger seat first, Shusmeetha quickly taking the middle seat of the rear row as her own. Shu Ting and Shu Qing were squeezed in on her right side, playing a game of Rock Paper Scissors. Which meant she was stuck on Shusmeetha's left.

Under normal circumstances, Yi Phing would not bother with being seated there. It was her usual seat, when she wasn't being hasty and snatching away the passenger seat up front. No, what was souring the blue haired girl's mood was the boy sitting on _her_ left.

He was considerably shorter than her, even though he was just a year younger than her. Then again, she just turned twelve in late February, and it was only mid-March. The boy had dark blue hair, much like her own, dark skin, but lighter than Shusmeetha and Lavena, and he had dark eyes unlike her brown irises. Yeah, this was her annoying little brother, Xian Liang.

Yi Phing's parents were currently in Ipoh to attend some kind of business function, and since they couldn't bring children along, they had asked Lucia to keep an eye on Xian Liang for them. Lucia had complied by bringing him along. And right now, Xian Liang was whining about the wait.

'Why are we waiting here again?' he whined childishly.

Ever patient, like the past ten times he had asked that question, Lucia calmly replied to his question while smiling slightly and turning back to look at him. 'Well, we're waiting for Zhi Hui to join us; she needs to socialize just as much as you seven need to get out; and what do you know? Gaito agrees with me.'

This made the girls glance at each other; even Lavena leant over to look quizzically at the other five. The discussion that followed was brief, quiet and mostly composed of whispers that Yi Phing barely contributed to. As always, the six, this time with the addition of Xian Liang, jumped as a series of taps startled them.

They turned to look at the source, and found Zhi Hui standing there while smirking at their terrified look, a look that dissolved into relief when all saw that it was only her. She chuckled lowly and strolled closer to the driver's seat, the sly grin widening to Cheshire proportions at the prank she had just completed, successfully, nonetheless. She hummed lowly and slipped her hands out of the pockets of her jeans, hand reaching over to tap on the window.

'Oh, you're here!' Lucia said, rolling down the window to talk to the raven haired girl.

Yi Phing wasn't sure what they were talking about, but it included soft whispers, glances at the girls and a louder exclamation from Lucia that she pretended not to notice. The girls were curious, but somehow they couldn't even hear anything. Finally, Zhi Hui pulled away and they could finally hear what they were saying.

'-need to stop denying it,' Zhi Hui stated coolly as she stood back. 'And back to the topic at hand, I think Shusmeetha could sit with her sister — she's slight enough to fit.'

The brunette turned around, examining the girls and their seating arrangements before nodding. 'You're right, Shusmeetha, could you sit with your sister?'

Shusmeetha clapped her hands gleefully and squeezed out of the car before bounding over to the passenger seat and practically jumping in onto her sister's lap. Lavena shifted slightly, and after some fumbling, released the seatbelt.

Zhi Hui then made a motion to her with her index finger; while similar to the universal 'come and get me' sign, Yi Phing knew she didn't mean that, instead she wanted the blue haired girl to move closer to the non blood related 'twins'. She nodded and scooted over, quickly strapping her belt into place and watching as the girl smirked. Zhi Hui shifted closer to the hood of the car before literally vaulting herself over it to the other side.

As she walked over to the door, she brushed her clothes off. She seemed to be aware that the eight in the car were staring at her in surprise and a bit of disbelief, so she flicked her bangs out of her eyes and spoke, tone almost innocent. The keyword, of course, being '_almost'_. Yi Phing didn't believe that for a moment, strangely.

'What?'

The eight blinked and looked at each other before pandemonium broke out within the girls. They blurted out questions and voiced their own opinions, much like Lavhanya had when she first saw Zhi Hui's acrobatics. The younger girl, well, younger to Yi Phing that is, opened the door and slid in besides Xian Liang, who had a glimmer of admiration in his eyes, much like he usually had when he saw merchandise of action stars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.

Yi Phing was snapped out of her own wonderings when Zhi Hui leant over and snapped her fingers in front of her. The entire car's occupants blinked and stared at her before she spoke, tone dry.

'Weren't we going somewhere?'

Lucia seemed to snap out of a self-induced stupor and hastily responded to her inquiry. 'Oh yes, sorry.' She started the car and they drove out onto the road.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

The ride was surprisingly quiet, with the exception of the radio station playing out songs until Lucia switched it with a Japanese CD.

_Doushiyou mo nai shoudou ni tsukiugokasarete ima_

_Watashi no sore wa hajimatta kimi wo motomeru omoi_

_Yotei chouwa no shousetsu ya eiga ga tsumaranai you ni_

_JINSEE mo sukoshi ZUREtara omoshiroi no kamoshirenai_

The girls bounced in their seats and started to sing along to the chorus. While the girls sang the chorus, Xian Liang leant over to Zhi Hui and muttered lowly, 'What are they singing? I don't understand even a word!'

The tall girl gave him a look before turning back to the front and closing her eyes, folding her arms across her chest. She adjusted her spectacles before looking at him again through the glass. 'Do you want the literal translation, or the rough one?'

Xian Liang blinked. 'Err, rough please.'

She smirked. 'Good, you know your manners.' She turned away and crossed her legs and uncrossed her arms. '"Stirred by impulses that there's nothing I can do. That has begun for me now, feeling searching for you",' she translated, humming the tune of the song as she closed her eyes again and leant back. '"Just like predictable movies and books are boring. When life is a bit off, it might be more fun".'

She shrugged. 'C'est la vie, as they say.' She chuckled. 'C'est la vie.'

Xian Liang looked at her weirdly. 'So you speak Italian?'

'It's Japanese, Xian Liang,' she paused. 'That _is_ your name, right?'

He nodded.

She snorted. 'And yes, I do speak Japanese, and five other languages to be exact.'

He stared at her and muttered, 'Wow,' before grinning at her. 'Say, what are the other five?' He looked to each side before looking back at her. 'Besides English, that is.' He laughed almost sheepishly at the last statement.

Zhi Hui gave an amused chuckle as she turned to him and drummed her fingers on her kneecap. Her spectacles glinted as she ruffled his dark blue hair. 'You know, you're actually kind of funny. My cousin had the same humour when he was younger… now, not so much.'

Xian Liang scowled at the gesture and used his hand to mess his hair back to its, admittedly, already messy style. He narrowed his dark brown eyes before something actually occurred to him. 'Wait a sec, my mum has dark green hair and my dad has brown.'

Zhi Hui raised a brow. She obviously didn't get what he was saying yet. 'And?' she questioned dryly, crossing her arms over her chest.

'So how do me and my sister have blue hair?'

'Good question,' she quipped, chuckling as she adjusted her spectacles. 'And it's "my sister and I", Xian Liang, watch your grammar.' She smirked at his irritated look. 'But back to the topic at hand, your mother and sister are mermaids, which pretty much throws genetics out of the window. When were you born?'

The abrupt change of topic left the eleven year old at a loss of words to say before he finally stammered out, 'Uh… uh… April 18th.'

She hummed lowly, this time to the current song, called Mi Amore, he believed. 'Then you were born on a Friday, just like your sister.'

'Her birthday is February 22nd…'

'Uh-huh. Thought so, that's a Friday.'

They were silent for a couple of minutes, silently listening to the next song playing and the other girls singing along as Lucia drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, an upbeat song that the boy couldn't place a name to.

_Gan! Gan! Kechirashitekou, raibaru darake no mahiru_

_Egao yori kuchibiru yori ai biimu ga kimewaza!_

Zhi Hui promptly chuckled at that. 'Oh that brings back memories. Not as good as Olivia and Elliot or Fin and Munch make, but still…'

Xian Liang perked up at that. 'By Olivia and Elliot do you, by any chance, mean Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler?'

'Let me guess,' Zhi Hui grinned down at him. 'You like Law and Order: Special Victims Unit?'

From there, their conversation changed to revolve around the live-action detective show, and the two completely ignored anymore songs on the CD and the girls singing along. Xian Liang became so absorbed in avoiding spoilers and discussing past episodes that he didn't even notice the slight frown on his sister's face.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui snorted in offense as Xian Liang made a comment on John Munch. She retorted sharply with one of her own, a smug smirk on her face as Xian Liang tried to counter, but failed miserably.

'Munch _owns _the funny moments in SVU; need I remind you of the "hysteria-treatment" episode?'

He winced and muttered, 'I really didn't get it, though.'

She chuckled lowly. 'Of course you wouldn't understand the joke; that's adult humour.'

He snorted. 'Figures that it would be adult humour.'

'And we also have Munch hitting Novak with a pillow in Authority — oh, we're here.'

Zhi Hui's argument in favour of Richard Belzer's character stopped when she felt the car roll to a stop. She swung the door open and strolled off to observe her new surroundings. When the others got out, Lucia turned off the car's engine and subsequently, the radio as well as the air conditioner before exiting herself.

Zhi Hui noted that they were largely surrounded by trees, and following logical deduction, as well as the lake she could see in her peripheral vision, they were probably in a forest. _Looks like her version of relaxation involves swimming._ She paused. _Then again, she _is _a mermaid; of _course_ swimming would be her discourse. _The raven haired girl snorted._ Go figure._

She hung back, closer to the car and discreetly pulled out her phone — she had felt it vibrate several seconds ago, no doubt it was from Gaito, as he was the only one that knew her phone number, that is, other than her family. She pressed down on the shorter protrusion at the side, the power switch, and glanced half-heartedly at the green and white window that appeared in the otherwise black screen.

_Be careful_, the thin writing read. _I have a very bad feeling that the past is going to rear its ugly head._

She snorted. _The past, eh?_ She pressed down on the switch again, not bothering to close the window, and slipped her phone back into the pocket of her jeans. She turned to the girls and shook her head — they were already in the water.

Lavhanya and Shusmeetha were chasing each other in the lake, green and orange hair clashing in the clear water. Shu Qing and Shu Ting were swimming circles around each other and giggling, the blond and the dark blue haired mermaids were certainly close. Yi Phing and Lavena were talking to Lucia, who was on the side of the lake itself, their light blue and purple hair a nice compliment to the skies' reflection in the water.

She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans, dark brown eyes unseeing as two differing waves of conflicting energies smashed into her. It was different from Lanhua, Alala and Lady Bat; all of them had distinct and unique aura energy that easily identified them and set them apart. Not this. What she felt was two similar presences, one was a bit more aggressive, the other was slightly more passive, but both held a distinct trace of a familiar energy.

Her eyes widened in shock as she recognized it. _Gaito-sama was right… the past _is _rearing its head. Those are water demons!_

They were _suiyou_; more accurately, they were _suiyou_ that Gaito created.

Zhi Hui was tempted to turn around and slam her head directly onto the blue Myvi at the very second she put together the pieces to the puzzle, but she very seriously doubted that Lucia would appreciate her doing so and hurting her own head, no matter how resilient her skull was, as well as possibly damaging the car itself. So instead, she stalked around the car to right behind a tree, just out of their line of vision and leant back against it. Right before she was going to mentally berate herself for not being on her guard — which also meant she needed to stop watching and reading the 'Harry Potter' series, apparently Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody's creed of 'Constant Vigilance' was seriously getting to her — she saw Xian Liang walking off in the distance, the greenery failing to mask his rather outlandish choice of a fire-engine red T-shirt.

_Where's he going?_ Zhi Hui frowned; in her experience, a kid wandering in the forest alone was generally a_ bad_ idea. And usually, anything that involved demons was a bad idea in itself. Two bad situations usually made for an interesting day, but she really wasn't in the mood for it; she'd rather be at home anyway, the only reason she was here was because she obliged to Gaito's decision, if not, she'd be in her room reading _'Little Women'_ again.

_Decisions, decisions,_ Zhi Hui thought lazily as she walked after the younger boy, careful to keep out of his sight, not that it was hard, seeing as he was looking in front the whole time. Vaulting herself over a root that was sticking right out of the ground, she caught herself just before she hit the ground and inevitably broke a twig or two. She snorted to herself at the unnecessary care._ It's not like Xian Liang will notice, he's not paranoid enough to catch that; and I seriously doubt the demons are going to single me out; Xian Liang's breaking enough branches already as it is._

Calmly, she shadowed the blue haired boy from a safe distance, occasionally stopping whenever she felt like she was getting too close. The aura-like feeling she was receiving started to eat at her, burning like a fire inside her stomach. They were close to the demons now, which meant that she needed to find a way to distract Xian Liang and preferably direct him back to Lucia and the girls, getting him away from the _suiyou_ — and out of the line of fire, when things would inevitably get messy — before Murphy's law kicked in and he stumbled upon them or got lost.

As if on cue, Xian Liang immediately grumbled out, 'Oh great! I'm lost!'

'Should have known,' Zhi Hui mumbled darkly to herself, a scowl firmly on her face. 'The world just _loves_ to screw with me.'

She walked closer to the boy, ready to protect him if need be; while she wouldn't usually do this, citing it as too much trouble for her liking, Xian Liang reminded her of her cousin, plus he was someone she was able to talk with. The thing was, most of the very few people who she _actually _liked tended to either: a) have a tendency to be Genre Blind and continuously put themselves into dangerous situations; b) live very far away and seldom have the chance to contact her; or c) practically be a walking trouble magnet, even when they try to evade it.

And by the looks of it, Xian Liang was going to turn into a Type A on that list.

Zhi Hui's hand met her forehead as she sighed in disappointment and annoyance. When she looked up, the raven-haired girl swore violently with words that most usually wouldn't use. The boy was gone!

'Never should've taken my eyes off of him,' she growled darkly. She stormed off into the trees, in search of the dark-blue haired pre-teen boy in question.

'_Whoa Nelly! _What are you two?'

Zhi Hui's head snapped to the side, and the bespectacled girl swore again. Xian Liang was _definitely_ a Type A; most would know _not_ to do that, unless they were Wrong Genre Savvy or Genre Blind, that is. The girl remained quiet, slowly sneaking closer to the source of the younger boy's voice, taking painstaking care not to step on a branch or twigs.

She pressed her back to the trunk of a tree and turned to the side, catching sight of Xian Liang's easily distinguished red shirt and dark blue hair. A frown crossed her face instead of her previously almost relieved expression. The demons were nearby, and that was _very_ bad.

Zhi Hui adjusted her spectacles — it was odd, she suddenly considered, the action had become a habit since she met the girls and Lucia-sama around a week ago — and carefully looked past him. As she expected, she saw two _suiyou_, both of which were eyeing Xian Liang with trepidation and curiosity.

The one on the left was around half a head taller than the other, with lightly tanned skin and long red hair. Upon closer inspection, Zhi Hui could see the dark red protrusion from her forehead amidst her ponytailed hair and ice blue eyes positively glinting with malicious intent. An odd feature she noticed was the dark red fins she had instead of ears. The demon was dressed in red and black, an odd call to the colour palette from typical villains… and Beryl, somewhat, which was somewhat Red and Black and Evil all over, though it was more accurately Red and Purple and Evil all over.

Her companion was paler, with short pale blue hair and dark blue protrusions on each side of her head. She had dark blue fins instead of ears, and closer inspection revealed dulled red eyes that matched the taller demon's hair. She was wearing blue and black, and was that a corset? Plus, Zhi Hui finally noticed, both had tails, the ends of which was… a _microphone?_

_Okay,_ Zhi Hui frowned. _That's certainly not the oddest thing I've seen in these past few weeks. Now, who _are_ they?_

She went over each and every story she remembered from her guardian, trying to discern their identities. That is, until Xian Liang recovered from his shock and shouted out, 'Forget that! Who are you two?'

'Older sister Sheshe!' The redhead declared this proudly, putting her hands on her hips.

'Younger sister Mimi!' the other followed, imitating the former's pose.

'_We are the Black Beauty Sisters!' _They declared in unison.

'Ah.' Zhi Hui carefully pressed herself back against the trunk of the tree. She remembered the Black Beauty Sisters now, Gaito had only spoken once about them, and it was obvious from that one tale that while they were more competent than the 'Dark Lovers', he clearly didn't hold them in high regard.

Then again, he had good reason not to. She wouldn't hold traitors in high regard either.

'Now,' Zhi Hui heard Sheshe say to Xian Liang. 'Let's see if you'll get lucky and those mermaids show up to save you.' An orange sphere encased the boy, who began to bang soundlessly at the walls, yelling completely muted out, for some reason.

_Well, I think it's about show time._ Zhi Hui hummed.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Sheshe tapped her foot on the ground impatiently; the Mermaid Princesses usually arrived pretty soon, and even the most patient could be rendered into impatient idiots by that fact. She glanced once at her beloved sister; Mimi looked bored, yet incredibly eager at the possibility of the new mermaids, who might not wipe the floor with them as easily as the Mermaid Princesses now did, especially with those two pearls…

'Ahem.'

Both demons instantly snapped their heads up, looking at the girl that had just walked out of the bushes. Sheshe frowned as she examined the girl in question, who, admittedly, was an unexpected factor in this.

Short raven hair, pale skin and bespectacled. Dark coloured clothes and a cocky smirk. And upon a more careful examination, she had dark brown eyes.

Uh-oh, trouble was a-coming.

_That's her!_ Sheshe realized, paling in horror. This was the same girl Alala had warned her about, the one that was good with physical combat. If anything, Sheshe didn't feel like getting punched.

The redhead could see that her sister was realizing what she had realized, and with the force Lanhua had said she had, they needed her out, without need for physical force.

They looked at each other and nodded in sync. Sheshe swept her tail up and caught her microphone in her hand. The Sisters leant back to back in their signature pose and simultaneously declared, 'It's Showtime!'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Yi Phing helped herself onto the side of the lake, waiting a bit as the water dried off and she turned back into her human form. She frowned as she stood up; where was Zhi Hui? For that matter, where was _her brother_?

At that, the girl decided that a search was in order. She left into the forest, which, she guessed her bother of a brother was most likely to go into. After several minutes of just wandering around aimlessly, she heard two simultaneous calls of 'It's Showtime!'

The call was heavily Japanese accented, a clear indicator of another demon. She ran in the direction and jumped through the bushes. Yi Phing had expected any of the three demons that she had faced before, but the two standing in front of her were also faces she could put a name to. Sheshe and Mimi, the Black Beauty Sisters.

This time, the half-mermaid looked around, seeing Zhi Hui standing there and looking at her with a raised brow. _Behind _her, however, was her little brother, _trapped in an orange sphere._

'Xian Liang!' she yelled. 'Let him go!' She turned to the Sisters and glared angrily.

The Sisters looked at each other and shrugged, returning into their positions and starting to sing.

_A baroque that shuts out the bright light, it becomes a beautiful noise_

_Listen to the whisper of our dark trap, it cradles you, and you will eternally sleep_

Yi Phing started to scream in protest and pain, her hands clapping over her ears in a poor attempt to mask out the horrible, horrible noise that was masquerading, even though she was still unclear on what the word meant, as singing.

_Slowly and gracefully_

_The shadows of our hearts awaken_

_The crimson roses that decorate the depths of the sea, turning pearls to ice_

_Now… together, all of your wishes shall become one_

_Surrender yourselves into the depths of the pitch black darkness_

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

_This eternal heart-stealing baroque is embraced by the waves of hate and rage_

_The fragile world that you once believed in shall disappear in a single moment_

The Sisters ended their song and grinned proudly down at their handiwork: the blue haired girl nearly ready to fall to her knees. She was clearly disoriented, not enough to fall unconscious yet, but it was still something.

A tap on Sheshe's shoulder made the red-haired demon swing around, only to be met with a hand to her neck. The raven-haired girl was smirking darkly at her, left hand placed strategically, with the fingers all together, the thumb apart. The space between it was what was choking her. Sheshe's hands wrapped around her wrist, trying to pull her hand off.

Finally, the girl released her hand, placing her hands on her hips. 'Was that supposed to _do_ something?' she inquired, her tone half-serious, half-mocking as she stared them down.

The two sisters looked at each other, shock filling their expressions in raised brows, wide eyes and shrunken pupils. She was completely unaffected! How was that even possible?

The girl offered an unsettling smile and swung a curving punch at Sheshe's face, the demon only barely dodging it. The two demons fled a little away, putting as much distance between them as was possible in several seconds before starting another song.

_Voice in the Dark!_

_The melody of darkness_

_Steal away the bonds between the pearls_

_Voice in the Dark!_

_Now! The beautiful, magnificent show shall start_

_Voice in the Dark!_

_Carried by this dark song_

_The eternal power of darkness reigns_

Even as they glanced over to her, the girl had traded the unsettling smile in favour of wearing a steadily widening smirk that was highly familiar to the two. Seeing that it had no effect on her at all, the two cut their song short, staring in horror at her nonchalance.

'How — What — Why?' Both spluttered out the 'Wh- question words, trying to put words to their question, mind still reeling from surprise.

The pale girl grinned viciously. 'I think Villain Decay happened to the two of you. The way I heard Gaito-sama talk about you, I thought you would have been more competent; at least, able to hurt me like Alala did.'

At that point, Sheshe wasn't sure she could be even more shocked than she already was anymore. Well, it was that, or the mention of her old master was just shocking her; ten years was no small number. Either way, the girl not being affected by their songs suddenly made sense; she was probably a Panthalassan.

'_Time to play_,' the raven-haired girl grinned violently. She pulled back her right fist and let it fly; this time around though, she aimed not for Sheshe, but for Mimi, obviously having figured out who the physically weaker of the two was.

It wasn't _that_ hard to predict what happened next.

A loud crack could be heard when the girl's fist slammed directly into Mimi's delicate nose, the blue-haired demon flying back from the sheer force applied. As she fell onto the rough ground, the demon tenderly held her face.

Enraged by the action and her patience with said girl long gone, Sheshe snapped and attacked the nearest target, which, surprisingly wasn't her sister's assailant. Nope, her target was the dark skinned mermaid that had arrogantly _ordered _them to let the boy — apparently her brother — go. The energy spheres flew at her, intending to hit their target with deadly accuracy.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui snuck away from the unfortunate girl and stole over to Xian Liang. She needed to find that pin, and _fast_. Her hand dug around in a pocket, brushing over one of her hairpins — hairpins that she never used, and kept on hand just for situations where she might need to try her hand at lock-picking, but this was okay too.

She fished the plain black metal stick out of the deep pockets of her jeans and quickly gave the ends a once over. She preferred not to use pins with rounded ends because they didn't provide as much of a good grip on her hair, and this was a time where she was very glad she didn't use them. Drawing on her own innate energy, she pushed the pin into the sphere, watching in satisfaction as it popped like a bubble.

'Go,' she hissed to him. 'You need to get out of here, find Lucia-sama and get them here as back-up_.'_

Xian Liang saw something behind her and his eyes widened; from horror or simply shock, she could not tell without more information. He pushed her aside as much as he could with his limited strength. '_No,_' he muttered, and ran off. 'I need to save my sister.'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Yi Pihng dove, tumbled and simply ran as she dodged the glowing orange energy spheres. She might have had no idea of what it was, but she sure wasn't going to risk her limbs or anything by letting herself get caught. She might have been agile enough, but her physical clumsiness — and Murphy's law, as Lucia sometimes called it, whatever that was, for the matter — just had to kick in and make her trip on a stray root.

She winced as she tumbled to the ground, eyes widening as the last sphere flew at her. Naturally, she assumed that it was going to hurt, and squeezed her eyes shut in preparation. So, when the shout of a boy rang in her ears, she was visibly surprised.

'Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow _OW_!'

Her eyes snapped open and she pushed herself up. Xian Liang was flopped on his stomach beside her, and he was hugging his leg to him, apparently having gotten hit. The gears in her mind screeched to life as she finally processed the fact that Xian Liang had taken the attack for her.

_A family member in need is a family member indeed, young one. Take your pearl, the pearl of water, and prove that you truly love your brother._

The light blue flash around her neck alerted her to the shell shaped locket she now wore, and the pearl she knew was inside. She raised both of her hands to clasp the pendant and yelled out, 'Aqua Pearl Voice!'

Streams of water encased her in a cocoon as her hair frothed into long curls before pinning itself into a half bun. She twirled in a circle as water swirled onto her body in the form of a dress before exploding into form.

Two long ribbons of water stretched into place and solidified onto actual ribbons. She threw her arms out, water swirling into place before turning into her gloves. Clapping her heels together, water splashed onto her feet and turned into her boots.

She reached out and grabbed her microphone and fell into a pose. She winked gleefully as she followed her younger friends' example and declared a speech of her own.

'I am the Lady of Oceans and the Guardian of Water! I'll use the ice cold water to douse you and make you repent! On behalf of the seven seas, I'll punish you!'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui shook her head. That was seriously starting to irritate her.

Yi Phing, with long aquamarine curls pulled partially into a bun on the right side of her head and light blue eyes, now wore a short medium blue dress with powder blue ruffles running down one side. The dress was strapless, with the customary trim a darker blue, around the shade of dodger blue, if Zhi Hui was to hazard a guess.

She wore gloves, of course, and boots that were styled exactly like her friends, but they were powder blue in colour, and dodger blue bracelets like the one she had once seen on Lucia's left hand adorned her wrists. Pearls of the same colour ringed her ankles, just like Lavhanya's.

The last thing was that two long, powder blue ribbons dangled from the small of her back, a slight bow tied just there and barely noticeable.

_Well well well, _Zhi Hui thought. She didn't mean to sound like a clichéd villain, but she thought it was _very_ appropriate for the situation. There was one small thing that was off, though…

She wasn't the villain. The Sisters were.

'Pichi Pichi Pitch, Live Start!' Yi Phing declared, clearly influenced by her younger peers.

_If a rainbow-coloured morning were to come, then we would unfold a map made of lights_

_You can hear it clearly ringing too, right?_

_You know… this planet's soundless melody_

The Sisters had their hands clapped over their ears, even Mimi, who, from what she could see, had suffered a broken nose from the single punch she had thrown at her. They were talking to each other in rapid Japanese, she could tell that much, considering the endings of their sentences and the occasional raised voice consisted of mostly Japanese swear words.

_Yi Phing looks like she's enjoying herself_, Zhi Hui noted dryly as the girl hummed to the tune and nodded her head to an invisible beat, one that she wasn't concerned with understanding, anyway.

_The rhythm of the ticking clock is sometimes faster than my heartbeat_

_Which is rushing hurriedly, trying to take deep breaths_

_When I start getting lost in the futures' many endings_

_I want to believe in my calm and honest self_

_Just say 'good morning!' and reset yourself, all the while listening to your heartbeat_

_I am sure that you'll remember what you had forgot_

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Yi Phing was _really _having a good time. She usually didn't like to encourage — oh wait, according to her Word-of-the-Day calendar, the word was 'condone' — neither violence nor revenge, but seeing those two get what they deserve for hurting her brother was oddly satisfying.

_Seven rainbow-coloured lights reacted to the iridescent prism_

_If you'll live then, surely, you'll know of love's true meaning_

_Whether it's the coral reef last summer, or all of the birds soaring near the cape_

_I love them all!_

_Everyone surely knows of this planet's…_

_You know… this soundless melody_

She smiled brightly and winked at the two troublesome water demons and declared in a chipper voice, 'How about an encore?'

The taller of the two gave her an angry scowl and helped Mimi up, the latter tenderly nursing her nose again. 'We'll be back, mermaid,' Sheshe growled. 'Mark my words!'

'Now _that's _cliché,' Zhi Hui smirked and walked up to her. 'Try something else, will you?'

Yi Phing felt the inevitable urge to hit the demons and raised her hand. Then next, a surge of water swept forth and slammed them into a tree. The demons yelped and promptly disappeared.

Zhi Hui laughed softly at that. 'Looks like you're really a mermaid. Blue hair, blue colour scheme, and even water is your nature.' She strode up to Xian Liang and helped the shorter boy up, slinging his left arm over her shoulder in an effort to help him walk.

Yi Phing paused and took the initiative to walk first, trying to find the way back to the lake. A hand on her shoulder made her stop and turn to Zhi Hui, who pointed to Xian Liang and then to her necklace. The blue haired girl realized that she was still transformed and touched her necklace, releasing the transformation in a shower of blue. She then waited until the slightly younger girl walked over and looped her brother's right arm around her shoulder.

After taking the lead and walking for some distance, Zhi Hui gave a soft chuckle, prompting the two to swing their heads to look at her.

'What's so funny?' Yi Phing asked, narrowly missing being tripped as she looked down again.

'Your little speech is what,' Zhi Hui replied to her, walking the uneven ground like it was perfectly flat.

'_Really?_' Yi Phing whined. 'I thought it was a good speech!'

Zhi Hui chuckled again; this time, her tone was no less mocking than it was usually. 'Perhaps, but In the Name of the Moon speeches, like what you did just now, tend to be incredibly cheesy. It sounds more like something Kaioh-san would say, if you know what I mean.'

Yi Phing flushed in embarrassment. The likening of her to her Senshi idol Sailor Neptune was a bit unexpected. 'Well, 'meetha and Lav did it too!' she defended.

'And their speeches fit Mars and Jupiter. Still incredibly cheesy though.' The smirk on Zhi Hui's face told the slightly older girl that her peer was highly amused by the weak defense.

A snort from Xian Liang drew both girls' attention to him once more. 'Well, guess I won't be going on trips anytime soon,' he muttered, craning his head back to look back at where they just came from. 'Not until my ankle's all better at least.'

'You sure it's just your ankle? You _were_ holding your entire leg, after all,' Zhi Hui pointed out.

'Yeah, I'm sure,' Xian Liang grimaced. 'Whatever it was, it mostly hit my ankle; it just hurt a lot.'

The raven-haired girl shook her head and offered him a slight chuckle. The three remained silent as Zhi Hui continued to discern out their path. The trio finally found the lake just as the other girls were getting out of the lake.

'Yi Phing! Zhi Hui! There you are!' Lucia called the two as she started the engine of the car. She looked at them and frowned, 'Xian Liang, what happened to your ankle?'

'Kid fell over a root, tripped and twisted his ankle. It's not serious enough to go the doctor, but I'd recommend plenty of rest.' Zhi Hui quickly lied, plastering a fake smile on her face as she fabricated a story to cover them. Why she didn't tell Lucia about the Black Beauty Sisters, Yi Phing didn't know.

'-well, I suppose it can't be helped. Yi Phing, you got your pearl! How?' Lucia suddenly turned the topic of conversation to her, making her jump slightly.

'Huh? Oh yeah, that. Well, let's just say that my 'special talent' is water.' Yi Phing grinned, sharing a conspirator's wink with Xian Liang and Zhi Hui.

The girl and her brother jumped into the car, Zhi Hui beside them. The former two smiled secretively, the latter only smirked and gave a little chuckle as she pulled out her phone.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui hummed lowly to C'est la Vie as she opened her Whatsapp. Quickly, she typed a message to Gaito in the existing chat.

_Guess you were right, as always. The Black Beauty Sisters showed up._ She hit send and waited a couple of seconds before his reply appeared in the white speech bubble.

_Them? You have got to be kidding me._

She smirked. _I kid you not. Besides, the past was a blast._

_End Chapter_

* * *

**Sneak preview of the next chapter (done in canon format):**

**Lanhua smirked triumphantly as the kids and the girl danced to her music.**

**Zhi Hui rolls her eyes**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): Was that supposed to do anything?  
**_

_**Voice-over (Lanhua): What?**_

**Zhi Hui throws Lanhua into a table, splitting it into half.  
**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): Eh, what the heck.**_

_**Voice-over (Lavena &amp; Zhi Hui): **_**Jikai, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Deikea no toraburu! Seishin-tekina shinju no mezame! (_Next time, on Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Daycare troubles! The psychic pearl's awakening!_)**

_**Voice-over (Lavena): We're going to be in trouble!**_

And we're done! How'd you like Yi Phing? Next up we have Lavena!

I'll just keep it short for now. Sorry to everyone who's been waiting for this!


	6. Chapter 5: The Psychic Pearl's awakening

Lavena is the girl of the chapter this time, and I also posted an image of Yi Phing in her mermaid form for reference on Deviantart.

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

**Stories/ Ta****les**

* * *

_Chapter 5: __デイケアのトラブル！精神的な真珠の目覚め！ (__Daycare troubles! The psychic pearl's awakening!)_

Lavena ran hastily down the side of the road as she clutched at the straps of her bag. She checked her watch, the one she seldom wore — mainly as it went against the school rules because it was brightly coloured with flashy shades of fuchsia and neon purple — and promptly blanched at the time displayed in bright, block letters.

_Three o'clock already?_ The Indian girl yelped mentally and picked up her pace, dashing down the road. _I'll be late! And being late for the very first day of the job is never good for my credibility!_

Rounding a corner, she skidded to a stop in front of a green and cream double-storey building. Said building was opposite a secondary school and beside another school, also secondary. Both schools were public ones, and the latter school beside the aforementioned building was one that she had considered before, but her parents had chosen otherwise.

Lavena paused to tidy up, straightening her pinafore and her white shirt before brushing imaginary dust off the blue pinafore. She tugged at her loose socks, which had fallen around her ankles to ensure they remained tidy and didn't sag, as not to hurt her image. She also gave her white shoes a bit of banging in an attempt to beat of the few spots of dirt and dust on it; not that it helped much, considering that she never liked using shoe whitener, and she was wearing cloth shoes, of which the dirt simply seeped into the white cloth until she could clean her shoes at a later date.

She _really _envied the students of the sole private secondary school around the general area of Taiping — _they_ at least got to wear black shoes and didn't need to go through the trouble of using shoe whitener.

The purple haired girl flicked the white switch beside the black metal gate, ringing the bell. A couple of seconds later, an Indian woman opened the gate and smiled warmly at Lavena. She was fairly average in height and also wearing black heels. The woman ushered Lavena inside the building, long, black curly hair tied into a low ponytail. Once inside, she turned to Lavena.

'You must be Lavena,' she smiled. 'I'm Miss Jennifer, and I'm in charge of the centre.'

Lavena returned the smile, albeit nervously as she pulled the bag off her shoulders and held it by the straps in her hand. Looking past Miss Jennifer, Lavena could see little kids of various ages from around three to six running around and playing with toys. Suddenly, the girl wondered why she volunteered to help out at the day-care centre.

_Oh yeah,_ Lavena recalled. _Mummy's friends with Miss Andrea, who's in charge of every centre around these parts. Miss Andrea must've asked mummy for an extra set of hands._

The woman gave Lavena a quick overview of what she needed to do, mainly involving keeping the overactive kids distracted when they were free and making sure that they had their afternoon nap. Lavena kept on nodding while half-heartedly paying attention to her explanation. She knew that she would regret it when the kids managed to land themselves into hot water, but right now, she was more preoccupied with looking over the woman's shoulder and making sure that the younger children holding crayons didn't scribble on the white walls, or on her bag, for that matter.

In the middle of Miss Jennifer's explanation, the bell rang again. The woman excused herself and exited before walking back in. Zhi Hui followed several seconds later, clad in her school uniform, indicating that the younger girl had also just come from school.

'Sorry Miss J,' the bespectacled girl apologized to the Indian woman calmly. 'Madam Donglin held us back until everyone was done with their exercises.' She paused brief and adjusted her black spectacles. 'And it's nice to see you to Lavena.'

The thirteen-year-old could hear the slightly sardonic undertone in the younger girl's voice, but she ignored it as well as she could, a sheepish smile crossing her face as she hastily returned Zhi Hui's greeting.

The younger girl only gave her a roll of the brown irises in return, clearly indifferent about the whole situation. A small frown had worked its way onto her face as she stared past her shoulder, dark brown eyes unseeing as she seemed to be troubled by something. She finally shook her head, like it could clear her mind, some way or another…

Lavena wasn't sure if it worked or not, but barely a second later, Zhi Hui was almost back to her normal appearance, a cool scowl on her face and eyes uncaring. The younger girl slipped her bag off her shoulders and walked off with the bag in her right hand, grabbing a garishly red plastic chair on her way to the pink topped table.

She sat down on the chair and drummed her fingers on the tabletop rhythmically before reaching over to pull the stack of impractically large books on the other side. With an expression on her face that looked like she was trying to say she couldn't care less about anything or anyone, she pulled a book out of the stack and opened it to a marked page filled with neon scribbles. The girl winced before swiping a pencil from the colourful pencil holder on the table.

'Um, Zhi Hui?' Lavena meekly called to her younger friend, pausing in hesitance when said girl looked up to give her a sharp glance, pencil end tapping incessantly on the book, sound muffled by the red eraser at the end. 'Not to be rude, but what are you doing in a day care centre? I though you said you hated being around kids?'

Zhi Hui frowned and shook her head, marking something on the page to presumably correct the scribbles. 'I said that, yes,' she muttered, looking past her to give the Indian woman behind her a glance as she was patiently calming down a stubbornly crying child. 'But Miss J is an… old friend, I suppose. I help her out from time to time, but she knows not to expect help with the kids, just the scribble that masquerades as their homework.' At that, the girl gave a wry chuckle. 'Though somehow their writing is still better than most of the boys' in my class.'

Miss Jennifer walked up to them, almost all of the children now asleep in a room upstairs. 'Well,' she said brightly, to the two of them, the few older children not asleep at the pile of garish chairs to take a seat at the table, possibly to finish their homework.

Lavena grimaced at the thought. Aqua Regina knew the piles of homework that teachers now gave, even to kindergarten students. _Ugh_. Homework.

She took a seat beside Zhi Hui, trying her best to teach the kids while keeping their volume down to a level where it wouldn't disturb the sleeping children upstairs.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

The calm, almost silence reigned for more than half an hour before the simultaneous ringing of two phones distracted the raven haired girl from the comfortable routine of humming to herself and correcting small mistakes that had been made.

The Indian woman excused herself to answer her phone, while she fished her own black phone out and slipped the speakerphone on. A still on-going conversation was quickly stopped on the other end of the phone and the girl laughed softly as she continued her work.

'You called, Gaito-sama?' Zhi Hui didn't spare the phone another glance as she tried to decipher the messy writing on the page.

Her guardian's voice was dry as he responded to her verbal jab. 'Yes, I did. How's Jenny?'

Zhi Hui could see Lavena tilting her head to the side as she listened to their conversation. She made a shooing motion with her hand and indicated up after checking her watch, trying to tell the older girl that the children should be woken up. Unfortunately, it seemed she didn't get it, still sitting in her place.

'Miss J is fine, and I'm sure you didn't call for that purpose alone. It seems too unlike you to be so spontaneous.'

The smirk in her tone was starting to become obvious, considering she already knew what he was going to say. She knew both him _and_ his schedule like the back of her hand, and she knew that at this exact time, he had a weekly meeting at school, and from both the cut off conversation she was still receiving from his end as well as his tone, she could tell that something had gone wrong.

'Yes, about that…'

Zhi Hui held back a smirk.

'There was a _little_ problem at the meeting concerning whatever it was you did to Chai Chang Yan from 6H, so we need some extra time to… sort it all out.'

'I'm perfectly capable of walking home, and for the record, it was a misunderstanding.'

Zhi Hui's retort ended the conversation smoothly and she tapped the red button to end the call. She looked at Lavena to see the girl still looking curiously at her. The girl gave her senior a cool dark brown glare before she adjusted her black spectacles and drawled in a cool tone, 'Two things, first, wake the kids, and two, stop listening to my conversations.' She paused to think and added a last segment to it at the end. 'Please.'

With that, Lavena got up and walked towards the stairs. Though for some reason, it seemed like Lady Luck favoured Zhi Hui today, as the girl crashed directly into Miss Jennifer, making her fall back while the woman dropped a package onto the floor. Try as she might, Zhi Hui only managed to hold back the chuckles by sheer force of willpower.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lavena held back a whine of pain as Miss Jennifer extended a hand to her, helping her up on her feet again. The girl picked up the box wrapped in floral printed green, a remarkable pink sentence stuck onto the box by some double-sided tape. She tilted her head to the side ever so slightly as she read the sentence: Get well soon.

So it was a get well package? Who was sick? Lavena didn't notice she had voiced the questions out loud until Zhi Hui sighed and pointed out her complete lack of tact in asking questions.

The Indian woman sighed and shook her head, taking the package from her hands. She took a bunch of golden and silver coloured keys from the pink countertop and carefully picked out the key to the door. Miss Jennifer gently dislodged the key from the entire bunch and slid it across the table to Zhi Hui, who was looking up at the woman with a raised brow.

'My friend is in the hospital,' she quickly explained, making Zhi Hui frown.

'Is it Miss Amelia? I heard from Kai Te that she broke her leg last week.'

Lavena blinked. _Who is she talking about?_ she thought, confusion clouding her mind for a second before she recalled that Gaito's name in the official records was Tam Kai Te. The teen thought for a moment and deduced from the earlier phone conversation that the two adults were acquaintances of some kind, most likely friends considering the fond nickname he had referred to her as. Zhi Hui and Miss Jennifer were most likely talking about another person that Gaito apparently also knew, based on the conversation alone.

Lavena wrinkled her nose. She hated making half-baked assumptions like this. It was too troublesome for the girl, who wanted nothing more than to just do her job and skedaddle out of the centre until the next time she had to volunteer, which, if she got what she wanted, wouldn't be for a very long time.

'—so I'll be gone until five. Is that okay with the both of you?' Miss Jennifer was saying to her younger peer, who had her legs swung over the edge of the chair and was nodding slightly.

'No problem Miss J.' Zhi Hui adjusted her spectacles as she twirled the keychain of the silver key around her index finger, making the key give off a distinct 'clink-clink' every time it came to a stop and hit the keychain. 'I can take care of the homework — most of it is already done, so I can try my hand at helping Lavena with the runts.'

The caretaker looked massively relieved by Zhi Hui's bold admission and thanked her before leaving, stopping only to thank Lavena as well for being able to help. The girl only nodded mutely, unable to really understand what kind of hot water the younger girl had gotten her into.

In a few minutes, Lavena would find out just how much she had taken the kids being good and quiet for granted.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui winced as Lavena tried to get a particularly stubborn girl to sit down at the table and finish her homework. The girl, Bee Ling, she thought her name was, already had the irritated red eyes of someone who was ready to cry, and she really wasn't intent on listening to the cry-baby wail again. She winced once more — for some reason she didn't really care about, Panthalassans possessed unnaturally sharp hearing. Never had she regretted it so much as she was now, with the girl finally being set off and wailing out loud about how she wanted her mother.

Zhi Hui hissed sharply as the ringing of the bell from outside echoed into her ears, irritated from the young child's screaming. Looking around, she noted dully that she was the only one that had heard the sound and sighed, obviously, that left her to greet whoever it was at the door.

She grabbed the key, the noise going unnoticed, drowned out by the wailing of another child joining Bee Ling in her cry session. Unlocking the door, Zhi Hui quickly stepped outside and into her white shoes while pointedly ignoring the insistent ringing.

'What's up with people nowadays?' she wondered, scowling impatiently. 'Once is enough.'

She slid the gate open just enough for her to see a young woman with surprisingly long dark purple hair standing in front of her. The woman had dark brown eyes and a fair skin tone, and she was, for some reason, wearing a purple and red _qipao _styled top and a knee-length pink skirt. She was also wearing purple heels, which didn't stand out as much as anything else she was wearing.

Zhi Hui eyed the new arrival warily. A dark feeling was erupting in the pits of her stomach, but unlike the bright, flaring auras of the demons, it was highly muted, almost to the point of going unnoticed. She bit her lower lip in thought. _Her hair is very long, isn't it?_

The woman's purple hair was done into two conspicuous buns and tails. Either she was a Sailor Moon fan that was in way over her head, or there was reason to be wary of her, even though the raven haired girl's initial glance at her eyes showed no ill will.

'Ahem,' Zhi Hui cleared her throat. 'Ah, miss? Do you require assistance?' she offered politely, even though warning bells were echoing in her mind. She made sure to take an extra glance at the woman, who seemed nervous… scared even, if her tense body language was anything to go by. The girl's teeth bit lightly at her lip at the discovery and the fluttering inside her stomach.

'Ah yes,' the woman said, a nervous smile stretching her lips as she avoided her eyes. 'I'm the new help, my name's Rani.'

She forced a polite tone, Zhi Hui could tell, but the girl honestly saw no reason to mistrust her… except for one tiny little fact. 'Miss Jennifer didn't mention the help coming today — weren't you supposed to come in tomorrow?' Yes, she was lying through her teeth now. She had the feeling that this woman wasn't who she claimed to be, and if all went as she felt it would, it mattered little if she entered the centre or not.

Besides, she could use the extra help.

'Uh — um…' the woman was stumbling over her words, making the girl's suspicions deepen even more as she observed her brown eyes darting everywhere.

'I'm just kidding with you,' Zhi Hui fake-laughed, trying to make it sound as real as she could. 'Please, come in!'

The uniform-clad girl guided 'Rani' into the house, closing the gate all the way and locking the door after the woman entered. All the young kids as well as Lavena suddenly quietened and looked back at her. Zhi Hui winced mentally and cleared her throat.

'Ah, this is Rani,' she stated curtly, trying to keep her suspicions out of her voice. 'She's some new help that Miss Jennifer hired to help us out with the kids.' She fake-smiled once again at Rani. Mentally, she scowled. There was a couple of reasons why she tried not to smile too much, and not being too friendly was one of them.

'Well,' Rani clasped her hands together and beamed beatifically at them. 'Let's get to work, shall we?'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Much to Lavena's surprise after a couple of minutes, Rani was surprisingly adept at handling children. The woman was patient, calm, and an absolute natural at taking care of the whining kids. The purple haired woman was able to calm down a wailing Bee Ling, soothe several of the whining children, as well as take over Lavena's duties for a fair amount of time, allowing the girl to take a breather for a couple of seconds.

Of course, apparently it was too good to be true.

When Lavena was trying hopelessly to decrypt what she was sure was Russian code in written form, a sharp scream could be heard from Rani's direction. Her head snapped up, right hand lifting to hold the hair in front of her eyes out of the deep brown irises. In the corner of her vision, she could see Zhi Hui whip around from her position beside her, the pencil in her hand discarded as she shot to her feet.

She would have just waved the scream off completely if she hadn't seen Rani trying frantically to dislodge a curious two year old who was attempting to eat one of Rani's purple pigtails. That, and the fact that Rani was being incredibly rough in doing so. She leapt to her feet, shouting at the near hysterical woman, 'Hey, stop that!'

Rani swept around, hands grabbing at the child while looking at the teenage girl. For some reason Lavena could not decipher, the woman's brown eyes narrowed for a bit, brow furrowed in concentration before her irises widened in some kind of emotion.

'You!' Rani suddenly growled, anger lacing her voice as she pushed away the child, tearing him off her long locks and making the boy fall on the floor, crying his lungs out from the pain.

'Hey!' Lavena protested once more, instantly running over to pick the boy up. She noticed briefly that Zhi Hui didn't move from her position, a look of annoyance contorting her features as a snarl curled the younger girl's lips.

As the deep skinned girl reached the boy, several bright pink projectiles soared across the air and pushed her onto the wall, holding her in place as she tried to free herself. Lavena glanced to her shoulder, where a pink shard had her white shirt pinned firmly to the cream coloured wall. She looked up, brown eyes wide at 'Rani', who now held a very familiar fluff tipped fan in her hand, arm outstretched towards her, a scowl on her face.

'_Lanhua_,' Lavena heard Zhi Hui grind out through her teeth, the younger girl seething in irritation.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lanhua sneered at the raven haired girl, of whom she finally recognized as the bold girl who had nearly torn her wings off when they first met. She quickly shed the pathetic human disguise, her dark eyes changing colour and her clothes turning back into her usual dress as her wings fluttered behind her.

'That feels so much better,' she announced out loud in English. For the purpose of her disguise and any future plans, she had asked her master to give her the ability to speak the international tongue. Finally, after countless requests, Mikeru had given in and bestowed the ability upon her as well as the others, aiding her ever so much in making sure she wouldn't slip up and reveal anything.

'Now,' Lanhua chirped, taking flight. 'Tell me where the Pink Pearl is, if you would be so kind.' In her peripheral vision, she could see the raven haired girl sigh and shake her head in what she guessed was immense irritation.

She scowled at that.

_I hate this girl_, Lanhua groused mentally as she fluttered her fan in front of her face. _Let's see how she fares against my song!_ She sneered at the girl, summoning her servants with a yell, the many versions of her preparing their precious instruments to start her song.

The butterfly demon grinned as she saw the children start to move, dancing unfreely, controlled entirely by the music. Her music, to be more specific. She took an arrogant, showy bow as her music reached her singing part, straightening to start her song with pride clear in her movements and tone.

_The scent of the __flower__ that bloomed on the moon-lit night is so fragrant_

_The sweet taste of honey glitters brightly in the violet-coloured dawn_

_If you were to give me, everything in this vast world_

_The nightly banquet of sweet dreams, will be a circle of partying_

_Dance my dance! Tonight… is a dance of a swallowtail to a beautiful flower._

The purple haired girl, Lanhua noted in satisfaction was following the dance ever so faithfully, though not by her own will, the pink projectiles pinning her to the wall having vanished as soon as her song started.

_Let us gently play a harp made from the waning form of the silver moon_

_The sound of thousands of bells and the sweet tone of flutes, polish the soft tune_

_My adorable little slaves, who serve me so faithfully_

_Grant me what I wish most to have, an embroidered angel's raiment_

_If you just dance lightly and softly, white feathers will fall at the tips of your feet_

_In the ever elegant serenade, forget everything and dance forever!_

Lanhua threw her arms out, the music still playing and everyone still dancing against their will… except for one person, that is.

The girl was leaning against the table, a prideful smirk on her face as she stared at her, 'Was that _supposed_ to do anything to me?' she asked in a mockingly sweet, fingers drumming rhythmically on the pink tabletop.

_What? _Lanhua screamed in her mind. The Sisters had mentioned how the girl had been impervious to their songs, and how she had nearly been the cause of their defeat through physical beatings alone. The butterfly had merely taken their report with a grain of salt, believing it to be because they were too weak, never mind the fact that they had the same level of effectiveness as the three demons did on the Mermaid Princesses.

Now that she had truly witnesses it for herself, Lanhua found the prospect to be scary, recalling what the taller of the two sisters had said about her strength as well as what she could do to hurt her. The wine eyed demon was currently regretting her decision not to involve either the frivolous flirt of a bat and the irritating pest of a dragonfly with her on this trip — she currently had no help if girl chose to attack.

Deep in her thoughts, the butterfly-winged demon never noticed the well placed kick aimed at the side of her head, sending her flying into one of the low tables, smashing right through it and landing directly on the smooth floor, confounding her for a period of time.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

The bespectacled girl muttered a low string of curses as she sent the irritating demon head-over-heels into a table, breaking it cleanly into two halves upon contact — she had to fix it later if she didn't want Miss Jennifer finding out what transpired when she was out. She swore to the patron of wisdom to make sure she kept her head screwed on in this situation. The girl had no intention to keep on standing there until Lanhua regained her right mind.

Hastily, she pulled Lavena onto her two feet and in low tones, ordered her to herd the kids into their playroom. The older girl, while slightly disoriented by the tactless 'dance' she had been forced to do earlier, was all too eager to shoo the children into the room full of multi-coloured toys. She pursed her lips into a frown as she opened the door and switched on the lights and the fan, pushing the door wide enough to accommodate the children rushing in.

'Oof!'

Her head snapped to the side, noting Bee Ling had tripped and had fallen onto the cold floor. Her first instinct was to check and see if Lanhua had recovered, but she got her answer when several pink shard-like projectiles rocketed forth at the crying girl. Under her breath, she swore lowly.

Before she could move though, Lavena had torn past her to shield the girl from the attack.

Zhi Hui watched in amazement when a visible series of bright purple rings, each wider in circumference than the ones preceding it, blasted out from the older girl's form. The projectiles seemed to have hit an invisible wall, rebounding once coming into contact with the neon rings. Her dark eyes narrowed — what kind of energy was that?

The girl felt another burst of energy from the general area, and a quick initial scan of the unfamiliar aura revealed the powerful energy to be from neither Lanhua nor Lavena. Another bout of concentration later, she confirmed the energy source to be from nowhere in the general area, which meant it wasn't from Bee Ling, nor was it from any kind of cursed, enchanted or otherwise magical item in her immediate vicinity.

The girl bit down on her lower lip as she finally pieced together the source of the energy burst. It was the same kind of energy that had surrounded Shusmeetha and Yi Phing barely a week ago. It was not altogether unwelcome a feeling, although it was certainly disconcerting to someone who was not used to the warm, fuzzy emotion that it brought to her.

She was not used to feeling warm, or even happy, if the mood so took her. The emotion was foreign to her — forced warmth, after all, was not what she would voluntarily sign up for. The bespectacled girl pushed her spectacles up the bridge of her nose, feeling the energy pulse around her like a mother's embrace, one she hadn't allowed herself to feel in a long time.

A whisper passed her ear, and even with her sensitive hearing, she was hard-pressed to hear it clearly. It sounded vaguely like a whisper of '_Saving one empowers the other_,' or something like that. She strained her hearing, trying to hear the rest of the message. '_Take what belongs to you now, the psychic's pearl, and protect the child_.'

A burst of bright, violet light burst from the area around Lavena's neck and the younger girl shut her eyes and turned away, using her arm to try and shield her eyes from the piercing glow. After some time, the impossibly bright glow faded away, allowing the girl to turn her face back and crack her eyes open with her vision safe from being assaulted by blinding light.

'Saviour of Minds and Protector of Thoughts!' Zhi Hui heard Lavena call out, her hair much, much longer and tinted a paler, more vibrant purple. 'In the name of the oceans, I'll punish you!'

_What in Hades? _Zhi Hui's thoughts took some time to refocus before she regained coherent thought. _Oh yeah, right, she transformed._ The girl blinked a couple of times as her pupils returned to their normal size, a sarcastic smirk curling her lip as she couldn't help but think, _This is becoming so much like one of those _shoujo_ anime._

She returned her focus to Lavena, who was looking curiously at her new necklace, which was in various shades of luminous purple. The older girl was dressed in a long purple dress with a single strap over her left shoulder. The dress also had a slit up to her left knee, revealing sandals with slight heels and prominent ruffles in shades of purple. On her arms, she was wearing gloves, which looked more like armguards than anything else. On one arm, starting from her upper arm until her elbow was a stretch of cloth, and a strip was around her wrist, two parallel straps at ninety degrees connected the two pieces together, and the pattern was inverted on her other 'glove'.

Zhi Hui raised a questioning brow as the older girl leapt into the air, cheering in glee. _Don't tell me… she's celebrating? _The pale girl resisted the urge to slap her forehead and make an irritated sigh.

'Yes! I got my pearl!'

Zhi Hui sighed. _Spoke too soon, I did._

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lavena stopped her impromptu celebration, suddenly remembering that Lanhua was still there when she heard a groan coming from the broken table. 'Um, whoops?' she offered sheepishly when she turned to look at Zhi Hui, who gave her a sharp, irritated glare.

'Sing, idiot! I can't keep her down forever!' the younger girl snapped at her as she kicked the demon, who had just regained footing, into a wall.

'Okay, okay! Sheesh!' Lavena muttered. 'Pichi Pichi Pitch, Live Start!'

_I'll leave on a journey heading towards the other side of the sun and the wind_

_For surely, without a map, the door into paradise will open_

Lavena sang the chorus and danced energetically to the music. She twirled her microphone in her hand as the instrumental reached a climax and started her singing solo.

_The bright morning that you were born into this very world, a bell of blessings rang loudly forth_

_Embracing only a single precious treasure, people will be born with you_

_I will not forget all of my feelings from that day_

_They all flow right through my heart_

_Dear My Songs…_

Ignoring Zhi Hui's sarcastic mutter of 'I doubt it', on the first line, she continued to pour her emotion into the song. She never noticed Lanhua yelping with her hands over her ears. Passing her microphone to her other hand, she bounced on her heels, intent on finishing her song and helping Bee Ling up.

_In the middle of our journey, as we aim towards the bright country of the sun_

_Even without a map, we will make it to the Promised Land_

_The legend that is touched by love is constantly changing the endless future_

_Definitely, many dreams can be granted by a wish... so smile_

Lavena couldn't help but grin childishly and announce triumphantly to Lanhua, 'How about an encore?'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui shook her head in irritation as Lanhua started to rapidly complain about her bad luck in Japanese before phasing away with a flutter of butterflies. She made a face mentally at that. _Ugh, bugs._

She had developed a dislike for the six-legged invertebrates following her more… _erratic_ experiences in Science class, no thanks to her guardian and teacher. Not to say that she didn't get a twisted delight from squishing the insects, or derive an interest in burning insects with a magnifying glass when she was younger. It might explain why she was so willing to hurt Alala; she might stand butterflies, but she deplored dragonflies, and since the demon was basically a dragonfly pest, she had it coming.

'Oh no!' Lavena's exclamation jarred her out of her thoughts, making her swing to look over at the older girl.

The girl, still in her idol form was close to fainting from panic, practically pacing the length of the room, her long hair flying everywhere as she nervously fidgeted. 'What are we going to do?'

Her outburst was louder this time, making Zhi Hui actually raise a brow.

'What are you talking about? And,' here she tapped her collarbone before she continued. ' Mind changing back? It doesn't really _feel_ right.'

The older girl didn't catch the verbal hint she had thrown into her sentence, but she understood the gesture and released the transformation that was interfering with the raven haired Panthalassan's senses. She seemed to be stuck on her own words for a while before she just seemed to give up and throw her hands out at the collateral damage that had been inflicted on the room.

_Though_, she couldn't help but think. _Half of this is just 'damage' damage._

Lavena wrung her hands, yelping out, 'We're going to be in trouble with Miss Jennifer! Just look at all the damage!'

Zhi Hui rolled her eyes, adjusting her glasses. So _this _was what she was worried about? Holding back a sarcastic scoff, she cracked her knuckles with a smirk.

'Leave it to me,' she addressed the half-Indian girl casually. 'You go distract the kids, make sure they do their homework, whatever needed to make sure they don't interfere with my work.' Her eyes narrowed a bit as she surveyed the damage done to the room. 'I'll need my full concentration for this.'

Lavena gave her an odd look, but thankfully, she didn't question her about anything, but before she was able to help Bee Ling up, she gestured for her to stop. Kneeling beside the frightened girl, she pressed her hand to the child's forehead.

_Now what did Gaito-sama say again? Adjust, or modify?_ Humming to herself, she cocked her head slightly as she tried to figure out the proper procedure. _Adjust it is then._

Reaching out to the girl's nonexistent aura, she picked apart the fabric shield that prevented her from directly accessing her thoughts, and to a lesser extent, her memories. It was a skill that most Panthalassans possessed, to an extent, but few could really harness it due to the difficulty of trying to find the actual memories themselves. Though, it posed no problem to her. Adjusting several of the memories, she shifted every part of Lavena and Lanhua's fight away from her mind before directly disconnecting its link with her mind. Finally pulling away, the small girl briefly looked confused for a while until she blinked twice.

Zhi Hui smirked at her handiwork. The process was all mental, but it could leave several physical repercussions for a little while, such as leaving the '_victim_' disoriented. And the word was used loosely, though her guardian would use the term 'the affected party' instead. She held back a smirk at that.

'Now,' she gestured to Lavena, a casual smirk on her face. 'Go ahead and distract them.'

Ignoring how the half mermaid stared at her, she hummed and started to plan out a way she could repair all of the damage done within the least time. A smirk crossed her face as her eyes sharply darted over each inch of the damaged property.

_First the table, the walls, then anything else I might have missed. Though the tables might be more trouble than it's worth_, she mused, completely missing how Lavena looked at her before walking off with Bee Ling.

For the next hour, the two worked in tandem as well as they could, Lavena distracting the children with games and toys as well as stories and songs while Zhi Hui slowly repaired all the damage done. When the doorbell rang, Zhi Hui was finishing up the crack on the ground. She ran her finger over the thinner-than-her-hair crack, finally vanishing it for good before she stood up, blinking at the sound.

'Looks like Miss J is back.' She smirked and looked over the room to ensure she hadn't missed anything. Her smirk widened. 'Just in time, good thing I haven't lost my touch.' The door opened and she greeted the Indian woman with a self-satisfied smirk. 'You're back then, Miss J?'

The woman blinked several times before she finally replied with a nod. She looked around before she frowned and asked, 'Where's Lavena?'

She jabbed her thumb in the direction of the room. 'There. Lavena's entertaining them for the moment so I can get a break.'

'Ah.' The woman didn't look impressed, probably because she had manipulated others into doing it several times before, and this time was no different, though for a much different reason than she thought. 'By the way, I ran into Kai Te on my way back.'

Zhi Hui's brow rose. What was her guardian doing? And didn't he have an ongoing meeting?

'He told me to give you a message — what was it again?' the woman stopped to think for a minute before perking up. 'Oh yes! It was "Seems like a butterfly is still no match against you.". Although what it means, I have no idea.'

Again, Zhi Hui's brow rose. How did her guardian have any idea of what was going on anyway? As if answering her question, her phone buzzed from the countertop. She glanced over and promptly sighed. Stalking over, the twelve-year-old swiped the phone and checked the applications.

_As I thought_, she sighed. Somehow, she had left the camera on, which, considering she never used the application at all, was odd in itself, but what was even weirder was the fact that her Whatsapp had sent the video to her guardian. Checking the green and white themed app, she read the message that her guardian had sent to her.

_I haven't lost my touch with electronics, it seems._

Snorting mentally, she typed in a message to him. _You hacked my phone?_

Within moments, the answer was given: a smirking emoji with the message of _'Isn't it obvious?_' following.

She grinned to herself. _Heh._She sent in another message, and the reply popped up soon after.

_You need to teach me that._

_Someday. Just not now._

She sent back an emoji blowing a raspberry and was rewarded by the reply of '_How mature_'. She snickered.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

'So…' Lavena muttered, walking along the street with Zhi Hui, their bags in hand. 'What did you do to Bee Ling?'

The girl chuckled to herself and glanced down at her. Lavena suddenly felt a shiver down her spine — the girl's shark-like grin was considerably creepy. She glanced back onto the street as they rounded the corner, the taller, yet younger girl in front of her.

'If you're still wondering, it's a trade secret. So don't ask — I'm not going to answer.'

Lavena ran a bit to catch up with the younger girl. When she actually reached the girl, she huffed and tapped her shoulder, making both of them stop briefly. 'Uh… so want to come over, like, for dinner or something.'

The bespectacled girl chuckled. 'Nah, I have work to do. Thanks for the offer though, and you still need work on your subtlety.' She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she gave the purple haired half mermaid a nod. 'I'll see you tomorrow. By the way, congratulations.'

And with that sentiment, she walked off in the other direction, flinging her a wave of the hand as a makeshift 'goodbye'.

Lavena scratched her head and walked off, not hearing the chuckles and snickers from her younger peer.

_End Chapter_

* * *

**Sneak peak of the next chapter (done in canon format):  
**

**Zhi Hui watches just outside the door. She frowns at the black belt.**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): Why do I have a bad feeling about this?**_

**Lady Bat reveals himself with a wicked grin.**

_**Voice-over (Lady Bat): I am Lady Bat, the wings of love and pleasure. Now, take me to the-**_

**Zhi Hui throws him into a wall.**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): This is how you execute a take-down.**_

**_Voice-over (Zhi Hui and Shu Ting):_ Jikai, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Tekondō wa, jiko bōei no tamedearimasu! Hikari pāru no mezame! _(Next time, on Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Taekwondo is for self defense! The light pearl's awakening!)_  
**

**_Voice-over (Shu Ting): I'm going to fail this time! I'm not ready!_**

Just for future reference, Yi Phing's song is Rainbow Notes.

The next chapter will be including martial arts, but keep in mind, it's Taekwondo, not Karate.


	7. Chapter 6: The Light Pearl's awakening

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

**Stories/ Ta****les**

* * *

_Chapter 6: テコンドーは、自己防衛のためであります！光パールの目覚め！ (Taekwondo is for self defense! The light pearl's awakening!)  
_

The buzzing from her handphone filtered into Lucia' ears, hazy but recognizable in her half awake state. The brunette muttered something considerably impolite and reached over to swipe the red covered phone from the table. With a bleary glare, Lucia turned off the alarm she had set and placed her phone on the side table again before promptly falling back onto the soft pillow to sleep. A shout quickly reawakened the mermaid from her sleep. At the force of something on top of her, Lucia finally jerked fully awake.

'Lucia-nee! We'll be late!'

Shu Ting was shaking her, dressed in a white _dobok_, which was to say, a Taekwondo uniform, with a green belt tied around her midsection. Her sleeves were rolled up to just below her elbows and the front of her hair was held back by her customary yellow and gold pin. Under the _dobok,_ Shu Ting was wearing a plain yellow shirt and red shorts.

'Ugh,' Lucia muttered, as the hyper girl finally got off her, bouncing on the heels of her feet on the floor beside her bed. Rubbing the last remnants of sleep from her eyes, she let out a short yawn. 'You need to relax, Shu Ting, or else you'll burn yourself out before you even get to your grading.'

'But…' Shu Ting trailed off, rubbing the back of her neck.

Lucia finally gave a soft laugh and stood from the bed, running a hand through her messy hair. Shooing the girl from her bedroom, Lucia got ready for the day ahead. Having already promised Shu Ting that she would be there for her biannual grading as always, the pink mermaid knew that it would take up the better half of the day, so along with her handphone, she also put a slim volume of a magazine into her purse.

Once she was all done for the day, she led the younger brunette out of the house and into the car, leaving Lavena in charge as per usual, the purple haired girl more than happy to have Shu Ting out of the house. Out of the corner of Lucia's eye, she saw the young girl having a panic attack as she slid into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt. She shook her head and gave a soft sigh, hoping that Shu Ting would calm down when they reached the training centre.

Around ten minutes later, the blue car was parked in front of Shu Ting's training centre. After locking the car, Lucia ushered Shu Ting towards the centre before following herself. If the young woman had been paying attention, she would have seen the black car parked parallel to her own across the street.

As Lucia entered the centre, she couldn't help but admire the decoration, as always. The place was a simple, plain white building, but the inside, though similarly plain, held a good number of the emblems for Kukkiwon, World Taekwondo Federation, and several others. Her eyes flickered across the padded area set up for tournaments and over to where the black belts were teaching the lower levels with last minute advice for their grading. Her brown eyes suddenly swept across a familiar person leaning against the wall, and her irises widened just a fraction.

_What? What is Gaito doing here?_ She frowned briefly, but seeing that Shu Ting was already with the others, she decided that straight up asking wouldn't hurt. Walking closer to him, she called out his name when he was within earshot. 'Gaito!'

The Panthalassan looked at her, surprise in his eyes as he closed the cover of his phone with a quick snap. 'Lucia? What are you doing here?' He ran a hand through his hair and blinked in confusion.

Lucia smiled softly as she finally walked over to his side, mentally noting the height difference between them as she clasped her hands together and gestured in the direction of the lower levels were practicing and chatting amongst themselves.

'Shu Ting's taking her grading today,' she replied with a smile, noting Gaito making a soft 'ah' in reply. 'I don't think you're the type for martial arts though,' the mermaid continued with a chuckle. 'So I'll assume that you're here because Zhi Hui is.'

The male gave a short laugh and a quick nod. 'She's over there.'

Lucia followed his line of vision and saw the raven haired girl in a similar white _dobok_, except that she wore a vibrant red belt. She was going through a series of complex motions in a quick, precise fashion, and Lucia could hear the sharp, clear sound of her sleeves and pants as the girl continued on with a couple of punches and a high kick.

'She's going for her black belt this time,' Gaito stated matter-of-factly, giving his ward a quick nod of his head as he leant against the wall again, a smirk on his face.

Lucia could see that he was confident she would do it, and honestly, after having witnessed her acrobatics, the mermaid had no doubts about her rate of success.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui threw a punch, finishing up the final part of the Taeguk and returned to her starting position, turning around on the balls of her feet. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she swept the light sheen of perspiration from her brow with the back of her hand. Her spectacles being adjusted quickly, the twelve-year-old carelessly threw a glance in her guardian's direction, stopping with a raised brow when she saw someone there with him. _Lucia-sama?_ She frowned briefly; what was the mermaid doing here?

'I can't do it! I forgot my Taeguk! Oh, I'm going to fail for sure!'

Zhi Hui spun around, narrowly missing the backswing that Miao Ting, one of her peers taking the grading with her, was doing. Looking past the older red belt, she saw Shu Ting pacing in a circle as she frantically muttered to herself. Excusing herself from the spar they were going to do, she strode off in the younger girl's direction.

'Shu Ting.' She closed the distance between them and put a steady hand on the girl's shoulder, making the brunette jump with not a small shriek. Stifling a smirk, she crossed her arms over her chest and waited patiently for the green belt to regain her wits. 'I can see that you're panicking. Need some help?'

After a couple of blinks, the shorter girl finally registered what she was saying and nervously scratched the back of her head with a nervous laugh. 'Yeah,' she finally mumbled. 'I kinda forgot my Taeguk.' At the red belt's raised brow, she hastily raised her hands up in defence, muttering about how the black belt had only taught half of it to the green belts.

Zhi Hui shook her head, knowing which black belt it was. 'You're supposed to be doing Taeguk Four, right?' she asked with a raised brow, silently cursing the black belts for being busy with teaching the basics, especially since Say Teik could have come in handy for this, having participated in not a few competitions nationwide. At Shu Ting's nod, she rolled her eyes. 'Then come on, I know how to do that.'

Shu Ting followed behind her and for the next couple of minutes, they went over the stances and the first half of the moves needed to perform the Taeguk. The brunette was nervous, particularly so when she was kicking and punching, and her hands kept faltering before they would reach an invisible mark midair. There was also a very conspicuous lack of sound as she struck at the empty air.

Zhi Hui shook her head and stopped the younger girl just as she was going to punch at the air. She adjusted Shu Ting's grip and ordered her to throw her punch. When she did so, Zhi Hui readjusted her hand and offered a slight titbit of advice to the younger girl, who, by now, was simply listening intently as she imparted knowledge that might be helpful in her grading.

After a few more minutes, Zhi Hui finally looked satisfied with Shu Ting's punches and kicks, giving her a quick nod before continuing with the rest of the 'lesson'. Before she could get halfway through though, a black belt — a black belt with a long black ponytail, despite being male — called for the green belts to gather into a group. Once Shu Ting heard it, the girl looked panicked, but quickly excused herself and ran with the other green belts towards the black belt.

Zhi Hui frowned; the black belt was giving off an aura that made her think of the demons. The raven haired girl was dragged off by Miao Ting to spar now that she was free, but her mind remained on the odd black belt, even as she sidestepped a punch, catching it with her arms in an 'x' formation, pulling it downwards and tugging the girl's arm towards her and pulling her torso downwards at the same time, allowing her to mimic a takedown by using an elbow to the head and kicking — pushing, really — the back of the other's knee.

Their spar done, Zhi Hui's eyes widened as she suddenly recalled 'Rani'. With that in mind, she was finally able to piece things together and understand why the black belt gave her a bad vibe. Looking around, the raven haired girl couldn't see the green belts at all, and she quickly came to the conclusion that the black belt must have taken them to one of the rooms that the higher levels used for sparring. Muttering curses under her breath, she excused herself and ran out of the room to find which one that the demon in disguise had taken the green belts.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lucia stared at Gaito briefly as he did the same, both having lost anymore to say to each other after their last exchange. Her brown eyes finally moving to stare at her feet, Lucia decided to clear her throat and attempt at a casual conversation.

'So, uh, why _is_ Zhi Hui learning self defence? Given her acrobatic skills, she should be able to get herself out of trouble easily,' Lucia slowly stated, trying to calculate what to say next.

Gaito paused a bit and gave her a brief look before he seemed to contemplate something, tapping at his chin before he finally replied to her question with a shrug. 'Zhi Hui is very _unusual_,' he deadpanned. 'She's made enough enemies in her time at school and out of it, and whatever she does in her spare time is obviously not enough for her, I guess.'

'Oh, okay?' Lucia raised a brow quizzically, stretching out the first syllable of the last word.

The Panthalassan chuckled at her before he finally decided to elaborate. 'She's made an enemy out of Liew Siew Yan,' he simply stated. 'I have no idea how, nor do I know why. They simply hate each other.'

Lucia frowned. Students hating each other was pretty common, but from the tone of his voice and the way that he had emphasised the last sentence, she was sure that it was far more than simple rivalry. She made a mental note to talk to Zhi Hui later on about this at school and was coming up with reasons that the two might be locked in a rivalry when Gaito continued to talk.

'Though it might be that she actually wants to prove that she can be better than a boy,' Gaito mused. 'Her family is more than a little traditional, and from the way I've heard her talk about it, it seems like she wants to show that she's better than the rest of her male relatives. '

_So her family's one of those who think that boys are better than girls._ Lucia winced briefly. The families that thought that way were the hardest to deal with at parent-teacher conferences, and the female students more usually than not displayed low self-esteem, while most, if not all, of the male students were either spoiled brats or bullies at worst.

'Of course,' Gaito muttered. 'I've tried to use her test scores as a way to prove that, but her parents never listen to me.' He shook his head with a sigh. 'I think that she's already given that up by now, considering how she treats this as a competition or a sport rather than a method of self-defence.'

Musing over what he had said, Lucia couldn't help but think,_ Zhi Hui has the kind of traditional family that favours boys, poor girl. At least Gaito sympathizes with her; I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I was in her place, with no one behind me._ 'Thanks.' Ignoring the quizzical look he gave her at the statement, she subconsciously started to compare Gaito with the almost self-absorbed person he had been nearly a dozen years ago.

He _had _changed, that was certain, though he still had some of the same traits that he once had, he had changed much, for the better too. His smirk had remained constant, as had the way he carried himself, though there was a conspicuous lack of the near condescending air he used to have. There were subtler, slighter changes to his personality, or so she could assume from how little she had actually known him before. She hadn't really thought he was the kind of person who could associate with children, but his chosen profession was teaching at a primary school, and that meant dealing with hyper kids all day. And then there was the more evident changes, like his now black hair as compared to the light silver-gray tone, though she supposed that it would certainly be odd if he still had that hair colour in Malaysia, where black was the predominant colour.

She had become so engrossed in her thoughts that Gaito's voice calling her name made her literally jump in surprise. 'I-I'm sorry, what did you say?' she quickly asked, trying to gather her wits again.

He held back a chuckle at her over the top reaction and repeated what he had presumably been saying while she had been lost in her own thoughts. 'I said, "What are you thinking about?" You seemed like you were a bit lost there.'

Lucia felt a light blush dust her face as she allowed herself a short laugh. 'It was nothing special; just how things have changed. _You've _changed,' she mumbled, her eyes staring up at his gray irises. Absently, she began to play with the strap of her handbag, adjusting it constantly.

To her surprise, Gaito began to laugh softly. 'Of course I've changed; it's not likely that you'd stay the same forever. Besides,' he finally added, his laughter slowly dying down. 'You've changed as well.' Briefly, his eyes seemed to be scanning her form, and a smirk formed on his face. 'A lot, in fact,' he added with a grin.

The brunette mermaid felt her blush spread further and darken slightly at the not-so-subtle compliment to her figure. 'You know,' she finally muttered, trying her best to put on a false, playful scowl. '_That_ was uncalled for, but thanks anyway.'

The only response she got was a laugh from the Panthalassan.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui's bare feet pounded against the cement floor, thankfully not making much noise as she sprinted to find where the demon had taken the group of green belts. Her head snapped to the left, looking through the screen of a door on the side and she shook her head, continuing on. It was already the third door down the corridor that she had checked, and she was already having a very bad feeling.

Finally, her senses alerted her to a familiar aura — one that was accompanied by the feeling of emotional drainage, strangely enough — in the room to her right, along with the oddly catchy tune that left her ears ringing. Wincing lightly, she looked through the screen and saw the familiar red glow that signified a demon's attack. _Thought so._

Noting the glow was centred just in front of the door, the red belt took several steps back before launching herself forth to perform a jumping side kick. Taking three steps forth, she sprang up on the third step to let her right leg stretch out, toes curled up so that the balls of her feet collided with the door, which she knew from personal experience was one that couldn't be locked, and could easily be opened by pushing it from the outside. True to her expectations, the door opened inwards with a loud sound of something, or someone, hitting the wall.

The red aura was instantly dispelled and it appeared to her that whatever spell had somehow been previously cast by the demon had been lifted, all the green belts inside suddenly jumping in fright.

'Alright!' she ordered, tone sharp in her usual way, which she knew usually made kids listen to her. The fact that there were older teens in the group barely occurred to her as she snapped at them. 'Get out of here right now!' Subtly, her fingers weaved a slight spell, gently nudging their memories to regard the situation as irrelevant. She inwardly winced, hoping that it worked; her spells were never really effective when done to the masses, they were almost useless, even, if she didn't have enough time to make sure that each had their memory properly modified, which she didn't, not right now.

The green belts rushed out at a more direct prompting from her, which involved her mentioning that they were late for their grading. Her eyes suddenly landed on Shu Ting, who was at the very back of the room, and somehow had not awakened from the trance yet. The raven haired girl cursed and dashed forward to grab the younger girl's wrist.

The door suddenly slammed shut once she left her position at the doorway, and the bespectacled girl cursed again. She whirred around to see the black belt from earlier, though now he had a more questionable appearance that made it obvious he was a demon.

The demon's ponytailed hair was still there, though it held a crimson tint to the dark shade it had. His eyes were violet, with cat-like pupils, and he had a pair of fangs, bared in his irritated snarl. Oddly, he was wearing a white, frilled shirt and a short skirt, along with high-heeled boots, for some reason. Still, the black, leathery bat wings he had were very eye-catching, and lent themselves well to the vampire-like air he projected.

_Granted,_ Zhi Hui snorted mentally to herself, standing in front of Shu Ting. _He doesn't look like the Dracula type, and I certainly hope he doesn't sparkle when he's under sunlight…_ Inwardly, the girl shuddered at the Twilight vampire description. Collecting her thoughts, she found her voce again. 'So, what do you want with Shu Ting? I certainly hope it's not to lead you to the Pink Pearl Princess though — your little friends tried that, and they _failed_, if you didn't get the memo,' she mocked, trying her best to put her 'sardonic' tone into the sentence.

The demon sneered, his wings stretching outward, revealing an impressive wingspan of around three meters or so. 'Great,' he griped, his voice unusually effeminate for someone who was supposedly male, at least, from what the raven haired girl had gleaned from her guardian. '_You._ I was hoping this was going to be an easy job, but _no_, you just _have_ to show up and — ow!'

During the short few seconds that he had been using to start a lengthy rant, the Panthalassan had lightly shoved the younger brunette aside and was now holding the demon in a rather painful-looking grip, with one of his arms twisted and forcibly held behind his back. Applying a little more force, she used a sharp jab to the area behind his knee and changed her hold so that his arm was now bent at the back of his head. From experience, she knew that this manoeuvre would definitely result in a take-down, and true to her expectations, the demon was pressed down, before she took advantage of her grip on his wrist to toss him into a wall, just like she had done to 'Rani'.

Lady Bat, she presumed his name was from her memories and some snippets of info she had gleaned from Lucia during the one time that the mermaid had been in her class, hit the wall with an 'oof', his wings bent at a painful looking angle and his face scrunched in pain. He tried to get up directly after hitting the wall, but instantly fell back after losing his balance, wincing loudly.

At the same time, Shu Ting's dull eyes snapped back to life, the brown eyes suddenly regaining clarity as she stumbled forth on her feet unsteadily. She took a step back and was instantly caught by the wrist by the older girl, quickly shoved behind the bespectacled red belt as she spluttered out a string of incoherent words before forming a sentence. 'Ugh,' she managed. 'My head.'

Zhi Hui made a non-committal sound, her eyes narrowed as she focused solely on the effeminate demon still regaining his bearings. She didn't have a good grasp on what he could do just yet, and she wasn't just about to charge in blindly, unlike what she had done _last time_. Holding back a wince at the humiliating memory, she muttered lowly to her younger friend, ' Glad to see you're back, kiddo.'

Behind her, Shu Ting scowled briefly at the light teasing lilt in her tone. The girl suddenly yelled out a warning to the raven-haired girl in front of her as she carefully backed up.

Zhi Hui held back a sneer from her face as Bat threw a punch at her. She parried the attack to the side and brought her knee up in a cheat tactic. Satisfied, she watched as the demon stumbled back, any doubts she might have had about his masculinity gone as he whimpered in pain. Preparing herself in case he wanted to attack again, she put together a mocking sentence, 'So you're actually male, huh? I couldn't tell, not from the girly skirt and hair ribbon. And are you actually wearing heels?'

Normally, she wouldn't hit out at a guy's masculinity, but she honestly had no idea what would get him unhinged with anger. Carefully, she watched his shoulders and tried to predict how he would attack. Seeing his shoulders slant back, she quickly took a step forty five degrees to the front, narrowly missing his kick. Releasing a sigh of relief, she whirled around on her instincts as a punch flew towards her stomach.

The girl was hit directly by the strong punch and she was thrown back several inches, making her gasp for air. Zhi Hui finally straightened after a few short seconds of regaining her breath, wincing sharply as she tried to distract herself from the unexpected pain of the punch. _Okay,_ Zhi Hui finally shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. _I shouldn't have underestimated his strength. That hurt, big time._

'Guess it's my fault,' she muttered, falling back into her ever dependable stance, hands held up to protect from anymore attacks. She lunged instantly, bringing her knee up before switching to her other leg with a jump and turning her body so that her foot hit his head with more force than was perceivably necessary. Before he could find a suitable response, she turned three hundred and sixty degrees before she landed another kick to his head, though she hit his jaw instead of the temple. Once her foot touched the ground anew, she quickly switched her stance so that her right foot was now in front of the left in a wide stance.

Bat snarled, baring his fangs irritably as he stormed forth again, his wings taking him airborne. He instantly summoned a headset from limbo and a dark red mist started to surround him. The music echoed in the room and the demon started to regain his bearings again.

Zhi Hui winced sharply and clapped her hands over her ears, trying to filter out the sound of the demon's song. Her hands faintly started to shake as pain filled her mind, setting whatever part of her mind responsible for signals alight with the unfamiliar pain, similar to yet different from Alala's high-pitched singing. Before she could register anything more, he started to sing.

_More beautiful than a blood red rose, more seductive than the midnight moon_

_If you want that precious life of yours returned, then force yourself to bloom in this hand_

_The door to the world of darkness will now open once again_

_Now, you can just leave everything to your cruel fate, and be reborn once again_

Zhi Hui hissed lowly in pain, her mind going blank as she tried to force the pain away. Needless to say, it didn't work. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she drew her breath in between gritted teeth in order to stop herself from screaming. She tried to divert her attention away, and briefly cracked her eyes open.

She saw Shu Ting standing barely a couple of meters away, but her eyes were now blank and dull again, and the girl knew that whatever effect the demon's song had, it was working differently on her. Stifling another scream, she winced sharply as another spear of pain stabbed through her head.

_Close those heavy eyelids of yours in the black night, now you may find the midnight masquerade_

_Now slip into the eternal darkness. Come now, my dear! There is no reason to be afraid_

_And be there for all of eternity_

Zhi Hui finally collapsed to her knees, hands now trying desperately to hold herself up as she breathed heavily, shoulders shaking as the song echoed in her head, leaving her unable to think clearly or even think at all. Trying to lift her head, she eventually gave up and resumed her considerable useless attempts to filter out the song. _I hate being useless,_ the bespectacled girl barely managed the thought as the song sent another wave of pain crashing right into her.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Shu Ting was snapped out of the song-induced trance, for the second time that day, but this time from a sharp, ear-piercing scream. She jolted, and briefly, the sound of the scream and the music she could faintly register was completely blocked out, replaced by a soft, gentle voice that sounded oddly similar to the voice she had sometimes heard in her dreams.

_Time is of the essence, my dear, as I can't hold his song off forever. Take your pearl, and show those wings of darkness that your pearl's light always triumphs._

Shu Ting looked around, confusion imprinted on her features. Vaguely, she recalled Shusmeetha, Lavhanya, Yi Phing and Lavena talking about something like this when they got their pearls. A blindingly bright burst of light blasted from around her neck, but somehow she still wasn't blinded by the glow. She could barely make out the hint of a necklace, complete with a familiarly shaped pendant materialize out of nowhere.

When the light finally faded, the brunette was fascinated to see the yellow and sunshine shell necklace around her neck. The locket clicked open when she touched it, and three words found their way into her thoughts. Knowing what to do, she called out the words that she knew belonged to her transformation phrase. 'Light Pearl Voice!'

Another burst of light enveloped Shu Ting as her hair lengthening dramatically, the ends of her hair straightening out, and a headband shimmered into place. Light separated into coloured fragments before dissolving into two bright yellow streams of light, which morphed into the form of the new idol's dress.

She reached out as two ribbons of sunshine stretched over to her and they snaked up her arms, turning into her gloves with a burst of rainbow coloured specks. A blanket of glowing yellow covered her left arm and materialized into a cut-off sleeve. She twirled gracefully, kicking her left leg into the air as her boots coalesced from specks of light.

She brought her leg down and her microphone dropped straight into her hands. Bringing it closer to her, she spun and fell into a Sailor Moon inspired pose, declaring enthusiastically, 'As the Agent of Light and Justice, I am the protector of those who are in need! On behalf of the seven seas, I'll punish you!'

She faintly heard the song start to return, pounding lightly at her eardrums. Before she fell prey to the song again, she declared the same catchphrase that her friends had used, loudly. 'Pichi Pichi Pitch, Live Start!'

_In my lovely dreams, all of us were together  
We were protected by the shining stars_

Her song had cut through the winged demon's, and now she could actually see Zhi Hui shakily get to her feet, looking at her with her eyes slightly wider than usual, and the demon looked surprised and mildly horrified, for some reason. She guessed that it was because she was transformed.

_I didn't worry much when we were the best of friends  
We used to talk casually amongst us, though  
There was a moment when I was only worried about you  
I want to become more beautiful, right now_

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui held back a low mutter of 'really?' as she got to her feet, still shaking the after-effects, the _painful_ after-effects, of the song out of her mind. She suppressed a low groan at the considerably cheesy, though admittedly different introduction speech, but she was still inwardly thankful for the timely intervention. Picking up her black rimmed spectacles, which had somehow managed to fall to the ground, she gave them a once over for any signs of having been broken by the fall and put them on.

Turning her eyes to Shu Ting, she noted quietly that the eleven-year-old was gliding from side to side smoothly and was taking full advantage of the music to dance to a quick beat. She turned back to Bat, and found the effeminate demon clutching at his head, complaining about Shu Ting in rapid Japanese, so much that the bespectacled twelve-year-old only caught parts of his barely coherent screaming.

_When I fall in love, there will be something that changes  
I will close my eyes, and make sure of it  
I hugged you tight, and my still-beating heart pounded  
I want to tell you about this feeling_

Spinning around in a fashion that would've benefitted a backswing, Shu Ting twirled her microphone before she cheered in a rather cheeky manner, 'How about an encore?'

Zhi Hui could tell that Bat wasn't very happy about that. He dissolved into a swarm of bats without another sound, but the red belt knew for certain that he would be back next time with some sort of scheme that was even crazier than, say, masquerading as a stage magician in public and then revealing himself as who he was in a half-baked attempt to draw out Lucia. Honestly, the raven haired girl wouldn't find it weird even if he waltzed into her school cross-dressed and declared that he was their new teacher, and that was actually saying something.

'Yes! I did it!'

Zhi Hui's wandering thoughts were pulled back to Shu Ting, who was still in her transformed state. The younger girl was cheering herself for getting her pearl and was quite literally jumping about like a hyperactive monkey. Still, despite the fact that she was moving surprisingly fast, Zhi Hui could still manage to get a good look at her.

The girl's bounding was causing her long blond hair, which was surprisingly cut straight at the end, in contrast to her usual, slightly curved out style in her human form. Her bangs were being held back by a golden yellow headband, making a nice match with her golden brown eyes.

Her dress was similarly styled to the others, though it was more like Lavena's dress in that it lacked the curly trim, though it was a halter top instead of Lavena's single strap, and the area around her neck was a bright, golden collar-like part, with the rest of the dress being mainly a more subdued, paler sunshine yellow. Unlike Lavena's long, floor brushing dress, the blonde's actually had a waistline, from where the skirt turned into a faded shade of yellow from the seam.

Surprisingly enough, the dress only had one sleeve, well, one conventional sleeve. It left her shoulders bare with a short, somewhat ruffled sleeve ending at mid-upper section of her right arm. The left arm had a detached sleeve that reached her wrist, held there by a slightly golden-bronze strap, coloured a light ecru.

Her gloves were mismatched, elbow length on the right side and wrist length on the left, following the pattern of asymmetric designs that the others' conformed to, somewhat, though it was much more prominent with hers. Both gloves were a shade of vanilla, as were her boots, which had gold trim, though oddly no ruffled cloth surrounding her calves.

Noting that the girl was still gushing over how unexpectedly cute her dress was, Zhi Hui cleared her throat, making it a point so that the girl heard her. 'Shu Ting?' When it was obvious that the girl hadn't let her voice sink in, she strode over, clapped her hand onto the shorter girl's shoulder and said her name again, only slightly louder.

Shu Ting jumped, and once she had registered that she was talking to her, immediately whirred around to face the older girl. She laughed nervously, playing with the locket around her neck absently as she gave the bespectacled girl a goofy grin of sorts.

Zhi Hui raised a brow questioningly, but didn't question her further, instead, she chose to glance at her watch and point out the time. 'It's been twenty minutes tops, Shu Ting.' Zhi Hui crossed her arms over her chest and gave a quick nod at the door. 'Shouldn't you be going?'

At the reminder, Shu Ting was just about to make a mad dash to the door, but the older girl was both faster and stronger than her, and quickly pulled her back before she could run off. When the blonde looked questioningly at her, the girl merely coughed conspicuously and tapped at her collarbone. Shu Ting's face instantly flushed red in embarrassment, suddenly realizing that she was still in the yellow dress, and promptly released her transformation in an unusually bright shower of yellow sparks.

Zhi Hui stifled a snicker and she strolled leisurely out of the room, Shu Ting dashing past her and running frantically back to the main room. Zhi Hui chose not to mention to Shu Ting that the examiner was running late today and would only arrive at eleven ten, which was just two minutes ago, and thus would just be getting ready for the grading.

After around half an hour, the examiner had run through the white and yellow belts, which meant it was now time for Shu Ting to take her grading. Zhi Hui enjoyed herself fairly much as she watched the green belts stumble during the free sparring session and hid a chuckle with the clearing of her throat when Shu Ting's high kick missed her opponent by a mile. Eventually though, the green belts were done, and were followed by the blue belts, and finally the red belts.

By the time, most had already gone home; Shu Ting was one of the few who were watching as the red belts took their grading, and she had actually cheered when Zhi Hui landed a light blow with a jumping kick to her opponent's head, earning herself a satisfied look in return as the older girl exchanged blows with her opponent.

Finally, the red belts finished their syllabus with breaking wooden boards. For some reason, Zhi Hui was placed at the end of the list, but she really didn't mind. Easily, the board split cleanly into two halves when she threw a convincing punch at it. Another joined its predecessor when she delivered a precise kick to the wood, breaking it apart. The examiner went over the results and announced to the red belts that they had all passed their test, resulting in quite the cheering from the onlookers as well as the ten red belts.

Zhi Hui carelessly tossed the boards in her hand as she crossed to the other side of the centre with Shu Ting, both engaged in a simplified conversation, that was, for the most part, simply Shu Ting asking her about how she broke the boards. The older girl pointed out that theoretically, the younger girl could do it too, and managed to conveniently leave out the fact that she had higher than average, probably considered superhuman strength. Suddenly, she paused, making the younger girl suddenly crash into her as she allowed herself a chuckle.

Shu Ting, obviously curious as to what she was so amused by, asked her, and she jerked her thumb in the direction of their guardians talking casually about nothing in particular. An idea sprung to life in the Panthalassan's mind, and she nudged Shu Ting, quietly muttering in her ear to get her to try and see what her powers actually were. The girl managed to produce a small sphere of pure light, and Zhi Hui instructed her to send it over to the direction of the two adults, which she managed.

Both instantly glanced over to them when the sphere of light finally lost shape, bursting into a considerably complex star shape. The two martial arts practitioners couldn't help but laugh at their expense, as well as what they had obviously missed, just because they were talking to each other.

_End Chapter_

* * *

**Sneak peak of the next chapter (done in canon format):**

**Lavena stands up, smiling brightly at the girls. She looks excited.**

_**Voice-over (Lavena): We're going to Taiping Sentral!  
**_

**Zhi Hui blanches at the statement, dropping a Rubik's cube.  
**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): At least we're not going shopping...**_

**The girls surround Zhi Hui and shove a pile of clothes into her hands.  
**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): Oh no, I am **_**not_ wearing those!_**

**_Voice-over (The girls): Pretty please?_**

**_Voice-over (All): _****Jikai, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls,** **Yasumi no hi! Jikan wa, shoppingumōru ni iku tame ni! ****_(Next time, on Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, A day off! Time to go to the mall!)_**

**Zhi Hui shoves the clothes back and crossed her arms over her chest.  
**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): No!**_

Lavena's song is the first opening of the series, Taiyou no Rakuen ~Promised Land~. The recurring pattern here is that I've been using the opening and ending songs of the series. I hope you already knew that, though if you didn't, it was very obvious, and I can't believe you missed that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Read and review, constructive criticism is always welcome!


	8. Chapter 7: A day off!

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

**Stories/** **Tales **(Why this is still here, I have no idea)

* * *

_Chapter 7: 休みの日！時間は、ショッピングモールに行くために！ (A day off! Time to go to the mall!)  
_

Lavena flopped onto the sofa, releasing a loud grumble of boredom, the five other girls copying her and either found themselves a spot on the floor, beside her on the sofa, or one of the fluffy chairs in the living room. The dark-purple haired girl reached for the television remote and found that it was on the other side of the room, where Shu Ting and Shu Qing were sprawled out on the floor. 'Mind passing me the remote you two?' Lavena asked, hand outstretched towards the brunette, who was closer to her than the other.

'Sure, 'vena,' Shu Qing assured her in a calm tone, though only her hands searched blindly for the remote before finally passing it over to Shu Ting, expecting her to give it to the older girl in turn. She then returned to staring at the ceiling and watching the fan spin around.

Shusmeetha, seated beside her sister, snatched the remote over from Shu Ting's hand, hitting the power button and flicking through the channels to find something to watch. She finally settled on one of the magical girl shows that the girls had grown up with, _'Shugo Chara!'_, and started to blankly stare at the screen, not making a sound, looking beyond obviously bored. After fifteen seconds of hearing the pink-haired lead ramble on, the youngest girl of the group then switched the channel, this time to some sort of news documentary.

Lavhanya, slouched on one of the cream coloured chairs opposite the sofa, called out with a reluctant tone after nearly nodding off. 'Switch that off, 'meetha; I'm falling asleep.'

From beside her, Yi Phing snorted, fingering her locket absentmindedly as she mumbled in a voice loud enough to be heard by all the girls. 'Who isn't? The heat is unbearable enough at this time of year,' she paused a bit. 'Actually, make that every day.'

Lavena sighed, sinking further into the soft seat of the sofa and instantly regretting up, sitting upright though slightly slouched over, her light purple T-shirt, a purple animesque pony with a tricoloured mane depicted on it, sticking to her frame from the light sheen of sweat that all the girls had from the hot weather. _Phing does have a point,_ Lavena considered, taking the remote from her sister's slack grip and turning the television off.

Malaysia was located near the equator, just a bit north, in fact, and just above Singapore, so it made sense that the weather would be hot. The fact that Malaysia was usually humid was also just another fact that was true. While being hot and humid all year round was helpful to sustaining the tropical rainforests in the country, it started bush fires and sometimes caused heatstroke. The number of times someone had gotten heatstroke while on the field in her school was already nearing the triple digits.

'Anyone have some cards or something?' Shu Ting finally asked out loud, sitting up to look at her friends. The brunette reached for her handkerchief to wipe her brow with and promptly laid back down, sighing loudly. 'Because I really need to do something before my boredom becomes a serious medical condition.' She said this in a completely serious tone.

Shusmeetha shifted beside Lavena and scrambled off the sofa, shooting upstairs and presumably heading to her room, where the sound of things being rummaged through could be heard briefly until the petite girl returned with a pack of multicoloured cards in hand. She tossed the cards, held by a single dark green elastic band, over to Shu Qing, whereupon it missed and hit the ground several centimetres from her head.

The blue haired girl shot the younger girl a look and picked up the pack of cards, flipping it over so she saw the back. 'Uno?' she queried, lowering the cards and passing it over to the other girls.

'Who cares?' The dark green haired girl grumbled, standing up and stretching. 'I just want something to do. Move over, will ya?' The Indian girl gently nudged Shu Qing with a hand.

'I'm in!' Shu Ting and Yi Phing chorused together.

Lavena gave Shu Qing a look and the girl finally threw her arms in the air, declaring, 'Oh alright, I'll play.'

The six girls then sat down in a circle on the floor and the cards were handed over to Lavena, who shuffled the cards quickly and dealt seven to each of the girls, upturning a card in the centre of the floor, and putting the remaining cards aside to let the girls draw cards. All six looked at the card. A green zero. Shu Ting, seated to Lavena's left, picked out a card and casually tossed it onto the pile, a green eight, before following with two other cards, also eight, but in blue and yellow respectively.

Shu Qing beside her, grumbled and fished a couple of cards from the spare deck until she found one that she wanted, throwing down four ones then gesturing to Yi Phing, who simply put down a red card, matching the red one, marked with two arrow symbols. Shu Qing went through her cards and tossed down another red card, marked with 'skip', followed by two more, ending with a blue card.

Lavhanya quickly dealt out two 'reverse' cards, then she put out another two identical cards, declaring 'Last three cards' before she placed them down. 'Uno game!' Lavhanya quipped.

Shusmeetha pouted at her slightly taller friend. 'Oh come on, Lav!' she complained. 'I didn't even get to touch my cards!'

Said girl stuck her tongue out childishly at the girl, who then huffed and grabbed the cards, sliding them back into a neat stack and secured it with the elastic band once more.

'So…' Shu Ting voiced out.

Lavena caught onto the younger girl's line of thinking quite fast and continued the sentence that every one of the six girls had on their minds. 'What are we going to do now?' Normally, they would've asked Lucia for advice, but all the teachers of their school were at school for a last minute meeting; something about poor test scores and mock tests.

Shu Qing was the first to stand and claim the seat on the sofa that was previously Lavena's. She sighed loudly and sank into the seat, trying to fan herself with her hand. 'Don't know, don't care. Just care that it hasn't been raining for a while so it's _super_ hot around here,' she whined.

'Why don't we go see what Zhi Hui's doing?'

Lavena blinked in surprise. The suggestion had come from Yi Phing, who was considerably the most passive out of the six girls. After thinking about it, the half-Indian girl muttered out in a tone of voice that simply stated 'I just need something to do and I can't be bothered about what it is', 'Good idea, I guess, as long as she doesn't get mad at us for bothering her on a weekend.'

The group then jumped to their feet, flitting out of the house in a matter of minutes after Lavena switched off the lights and the fan. Once the oldest of the six girls had locked the door and the gate, they skipped, or walked, in Lavena and Yi Phing's case, over to Zhi Hui's house.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui was engrossed in her latest tome, a thick, dark blue, leather-bound book with the subtle golden Old English font on the side, reading '777 Secrets of Sorcery'. As she absently ran the top right edge of the next page between her fingers, her eyes roved over the minute text, describing numerous different kinds of magic, mainly black and white, but there were other kinds mixed into the text.

When she moved to turn the page after finishing a passage on traditional white magic's, a tingling in her stomach interrupted the peacefully silent session of reading. Startled, she mentally went through the five prominent feelings that assaulted her senses. _Let's see… Fire, some kind of leafy substance, liquid, warmth, and whatever's piercing my thoughts… _She sighed, closing the book with an audible snap. _Yep, definitely them._

The girl reached out and snagged the keys that were resting on the armrest of the sofa, quickly sorting them out and singling out a larger, though not by much, silver key. She stood, carefully placing her tome by the place where she had been sitting. Strolling casually to the door, she unlocked the metal grid-like door, offering a careless smirk to the astonished six at the door. The bespectacled raven haired girl held back a grin as she slid the door open and gave Lavena a nod to the monochrome coloured living room.

As the six stepped in, leaving their shoes outside, Shusmeetha opened her mouth, apparently wanting to ask something, but the tallest of the group quickly cut her off before she could even speak out. 'Wondering how I knew you were there?'

Mutely, the half-Indian girl nodded, looking somewhat surprised at the older girl knowing what she was going to say before she even said it. At Zhi Hui's gesture to the sofa, the six each picked a spot to sit, with the two sisters sitting in the centre.

The raven haired girl showed them a shark-like grin before she walked back to lock the door. 'Well besides the six of you making quite the noise while unlatching the gate,' at this, Shu Qing, who was undoubtedly the one who had unlatched the gate, flushed a bright red and the pale twelve-year-old held back a snicker. 'I'm also unusually sensitive to magical energies, like the kind that you girls give off in floods.'

Smirking at the question-marks that were practically floating around the group of girls' heads, she picked her book back up from where it had been placed onto the armrest by one of the girls and set it aside. Then, she crossed her arms over her chest and asked with a calm voice and a barely disguised raised brow, 'What are the six of you doing here?'

'Err, about that,' Lavena started, standing while nervously fidgeting. 'We're kind of bored, so we were wondering if we could join you for a little while?' she hastily blurted out. Lavena winced a little at the raised brow that Zhi Hui offered and looked to the side while giving an anxious little laugh.

Zhi Hui hummed lowly, thinking about the older girl's statement for a brief period of time before she simply shrugged. 'Sure, why not?'

Ignoring the small chorus of 'yes!' from the girls, she picked up her book again and quickly entered her room to shelve it, exiting soon after with her phone in hand. Setting the phone controls so that the previous vibrating when called was now back to her plain ringtone set at a outside volume, she quickly checked the time. 'Well, we have two hours left before the meeting is halfway over, so what do you propose we do?'

The girls seemed to have suddenly realized that fact and hastily huddled together to discuss it. Though it wasn't like they were being quiet — it was basically whisper-shouting their opinions in a manner that really didn't do anything, considering that not one of them had the same opinion.

The raven-haired Panthalassan was sure that she caught at least seven mentions of the words 'mall', 'ice cream' and 'play' inserted in between the medium loud impromptu discussion that the seven were having. Inwardly, she shuddered at the mention of the first word, and silently hoped that they weren't going to drag her to a fair or something, because she seriously hated crowds. After around five minutes of waiting, she had just sat down with a very scrambled Rubik's cube she had found in her room, trying to solve it with a frown on her face.

Just as she had slid a red, blue and white corner piece into place, (and at the same time undid a white and red edge piece), a hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her self-induced frustration at the six-faced cube. Without glancing up, she knew that Lavena was right beside her... namely because the half-Indian girl's usually purple oriented wardrobe was too much of a dead giveaway to _not_ notice. Also, she could hear the other girls talking amongst themselves, which left Lavena.

Pretty shoddy deductive reasoning, she knew, but at least she was right.

"I'll assume you've already made up your minds?" she asked, turning a side of the cube. Scowling at the toy, she diverted her attention to the older girl, who had just nodded, eyes on the cube. Finally, Zhi Hui gave up with the cube and handed it over to Lavena who had been watching her failure at solving the cube.

In a matter of minutes, Lavena returned the solved Rubik's cube to her, and stood with a smile, offering her hand out to the taller girl. "Yeah," she grinned at Zhi Hui, calling the girls one by one before announcing loudly, "We're going to Taiping Sentral!"

Zhi Hui, scrambling the Rubik's cube again, dropped the plastic toy and sighed. She had really hoped that they weren't being serious about the 'mall'. _Ah well, _she considered. _Guess this is what having friends is like._

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

'So…' Yi Phing trailed off as the seven girls walked into the air-conditioned mall. She adjusted her sleeveless light blue top and glanced over to the only one of the seven that wore glasses.

Zhi Hui looked somewhat uncomfortable in their group, and she stood out a lot in her dark themed colour palette, especially with the other six's bright and pastel shades colouring their clothes. The bespectacled girl removed her glasses, wiping the lenses with her shirt before replacing them on their position on the bridge of her nose. 'So what, Yi Phing?' she asked the blue-haired girl, the only one to heard the soft-spoken mermaid's statement.

The tall girl carefully adjusted the collar of her deep blue and black striped blouse, her hands sliding into the pockets of her blue jeans as she walked casually in the cool mall. Her dark blue sandals tapped quietly on the smooth floor as she walked, a little behind the group as she glanced around the crowded area.

Yi Phing coughed a little, falling behind her friends as she took smaller steps. 'Um… about _these_…' she muttered just softly enough not to draw attention to herself, clasping her hands around her necklace.

Zhi Hui raised a brow. 'Your necklace? Or the situations that you girls are facing now to get them?' She took a longer stride, apparently noting that they had fallen too far behind the other five.

'Actually,' Yi Phing mumbled. 'I wanted to talk about Lucia-nee and…' Here, she hesitated, her brown eyes darting to the other twelve-year-old. 'And your guardian,' she finished lamely, not really feeling comfortable with referring to the male by name, not with the tales Lucia had told the girls before.

'Eh,' Zhi Hui shrugged. 'So what about them? They're former enemies, she used to date his younger twin around ten years ago, and they're now allies and work at the same school together.' She stopped calmly, keeping a watchful eye on the five, who had stopped and were now chatting energetically about whatever that they had seen in the windows. As they moved along, the girl reached out to Yi Phing and pulled the girl with her.

Yi Phing yelped, stumbling after the bespectacled girl before regaining her footing. The blue-haired girl blinked, walking quickly with the occasional misstep to catch up with her younger peer. As she carefully sorted out her thoughts from not crashing into the girl in front of her, she briefly recalled something that made her stop in surprise. _Wait a second… Lucia-nee never mentioned that the 'Kaito' from her stories was his brother… And I thought she mentioned he didn't have a family…__ Well, that explains the names.  
_

Yi Phing walked further, lost in her own thoughts until she suddenly crashed into someone. The girl was knocked back onto her rear and fell on the ground. Wincing as she rubbed her rear, she glanced up and saw that Lavhanya had crashed into Shusmeetha as well, sending both onto the ground. All three laughed it off as the remaining three still standing on their own feet helped them up. Yi Phing was carefully checking the two younger girls from any serious injuries and Lavena was helping Lavhanya, who had gotten a scraped knee.

'Hey, anyone seen Zhi Hui? I think she just vanished!' Shu Ting called to them as she and Shu Qing ran back to them from who-knows-where. Presumably, they had been searching for her, and evidently, they couldn't find her.

Uh-oh.

All six of the girls looked around, trying to find the raven-haired girl in the crowds, not like it was of much help though, because the people swarming the mall were mostly black-haired, and even though Yi Phing was certain that Zhi Hui's hair looked slightly blue, it didn't stand out amongst the dark browns and blacks of the crowd's hair.

Finally, just as they had given up and Lavena had pulled the girls to the escalators, a cough from behind them made the group jump.

'Ahem? Girls, I believe you were looking for me?'

The six turned, and lo and behold, Zhi Hui was behind them.

The twelve-year-old was adjusting her spectacles as always, a blue book in her hands, looking newly bought and completely untouched. She smirked at them and walked over, sliding her book into a black bag she carried with her. Sliding her free hand into the pocket of her jeans, she reached them and promptly raised a brow at Lavhanya's scraped knee.

'I'm not even going to ask.' She shook her head and glanced at the escalators. 'So, are we going up?'

The six girls looked at each other before Lavena decided to take charge, stepping forwards and nodding somewhat mutely. She gave the other girls a look and the six quickly raced to the escalator, Lavhanya and Shusmeetha arguing over if they were going to buy ice cream on the second floor or not. Yi Phing caught Zhi Hui raising a brow as the dark girl moved to join them.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Shu Qing hurried into the store, looking back when she realized that only Shu Ting had managed to keep up with her. 'Hey girls!' she called out. 'Hurry up!'

Behind her, the five walked into the store, Shusmeetha and Lavhanya still arguing over their ice cream in a friendly, joking tone. The six girls had been dragging Zhi Hui from store to store looking for a gift ever since they remembered that Lucia's birthday was coming up soon. Zhi Hui had pointed out quite dryly to them that, 'Lucia-sama's birthday is in July. And it's late March,' but they were still insistent on getting their present early.

It had been Shu Qing's turn to choose the present, especially since the other girls had decided on getting her an article of clothing this year. Shu Qing had been suggesting it for a couple of years, but none of the six half-mermaid girls ever managed to get the other five to agree on their choices. Last year, Lavena had managed to win the majority votes after they had narrowed it down to her and Shu Qing, so they had purchased a pair of seashell earrings for the pink mermaid. Shu Qing wasn't exactly sure that she could match up.

'So you're going to buy her some kind of clothing?' Zhi Hui's voice startled the dark blue-haired girl out of her thoughts, making her jump as she looked at the clothes displayed in the window.

'Huh?' Shu Qing muttered, tilting her head to the side as she looked through a stack of pink blouses. She picked one up, looking at the bow-styled design in the front and shook her head before placing it back. Zhi Hui's words finally hit her and she gave a hasty nod of her head. 'Y-yeah.'

Zhi Hui snorted at that. 'Well, if I were you, I'd think that Lucia-sama doesn't need more pink in her wardrobe,' she stated, her tone was flat and she looked like she was glaring distastefully at the pink. She made an 'ugh' face and turned to glance at the other girls who were looking around the store.

Lavhanya and Shusmeetha were _still_ arguing in soft voices about ice cream, not that Shu Qing was surprised though. She knew the girls like the back of her hand, and the two youngest members of their group of six loved ice cream like no tomorrow. Shu Qing was lactose intolerant, so she couldn't eat the sweet treat, but she liked yogurt more anyway.

'It doesn't matter how much pink she already has,' Shu Qing defended. 'You can never have enough pink in your wardrobe.' Looking at the older girl, she frowned deeply. 'You could use some in your wardrobe too, you know,' she added.

The older girl shook her head. 'No thanks,' she stated, crossing her arms firmly over her chest. 'I _hate _pink. Now if you'll excuse me,' she pointed over to the cream coloured sofa in the middle of the store for people to try on shoes that were displayed. 'I'll be reading over there, so you can tell me when you're done.' With that, the glasses-wearing girl strolled calmly over to the cream sofa, sitting down and picking out her book from earlier.

Shu Ting skipped over, looking at the dark girl as she did so. She took one look at Shu Qing's pout and asked, 'Did she just say that she hates pink?'

Shu Qing frowned as the rest of the girls came up to her. Pink was her favourite colour, despite her signature look being dark blues. She adored the colour and subsequently, Lucia too. Until now, she hadn't really believed that a girl could 'hate' pink, just because it was a staple colour for girls… and she was using words she didn't know again. She pouted further, 'Oh come on, why does she get to say that? Pink is _so_ a colour that everyone should love!'

'Ah well,' Shu Ting shrugged, knowing the pouting eleven-year-old girl well. 'She doesn't have much of a fashion sense to cri-crisicise-criticise your choices anyway,' the yellow-clad girl said with a smile, stumbling over her words to try and pronounce it correctly.

Shu Qing suddenly perked up. 'Hey girls, gather 'round,' she whispered to them, a wide smile colouring her expression. 'I have an idea. Now…'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui finished another chapter of her book, and she suddenly felt something crawl down her back, the girl forcibly holding back a shudder. Though she was as sure as Hades that it wasn't the demons, partially because she had run into Lanhua when Gaito had just left. The butterfly was taken down pretty easily, though she had actually been trying to escape every chance she got when she had seen Zhi Hui standing there.

Still, the raven haired-girl felt like whatever was making her hair stand on end would be much, much worse than dealing with the demons. She shut her book, mentally noting the chapter she was at, sliding her book into her bag before she looked up. The Panthalassan saw the girls discussing amongst themselves while picking out clothes in the store.

She would have passed this off as nothing entirely, had she not seen the girls glancing at her ever so often. Zhi Hui felt a shiver run down her spine. They were planning something that she wasn't going to like, based on how they were picking clothes out. Not the fact that they were picking out clothes themselves, though, under circumstances like these, she wouldn't have minded. Nope, the problem was that over half of the clothes were either skirts, or _pink._ And she hated pink.

Did she mention that she hated glitter too? Because half of the clothes were covered with glitter.

After half a minute or so, her suspicions came true. The girls crowed around her, and the bespectacled twelve-year-old found a stack of pink and sparkly clothes being shoved at her. She shook her head. 'No,' she hissed quietly at them. 'I am _not_ wearing anything pink.'

Shu Qing stuck her tongue out at her and shoved the clothes in her hand out at the Panthalassan. 'Too bad,' she replied, sticking her nose up into the air. 'You're going to change into that, end of discussion.' She pronounced the last word with slight difficultly, but overall Zhi Hui was somewhat surprised that she even knew the word.

Zhi Hui frowned deeply, crossing her arms over her chest, glaring straight at the younger girl. Her tone was firm as she spoke, 'I'm _not_ wearing that, and you're not talking me into it.' After five minutes, Zhi Hui found herself in the changing room, with a bundle of clothes in her hands. She sighed and shook her head, muttering in a low tone, 'How did I get talked into this again?' She hung the clothes up and threw her hands into the air. _Let's just get this over with before I'm even more humiliated than I am now._

Over the next half an hour, Zhi Hui changed into the various girly-girl dresses, skirts and blouses that the girls picked out. The first was a bright pink blouse, with poufy sleeves and a bow on the front with a white skirt. She dismissed that one immediately, no matter how the girls fawned over how 'cute' she looked in pink and white. Another one of the pink choices was something that looked like it was a Sweet Lolita dress — an A-line dress with heart prints and a _lot_ of ruffles and plenty of lace. Zhi Hui's first comment on that one was, 'Talk about putting the 'ita' in 'Lolita'.'

The girls didn't take very kindly to that retort, gushing on about what a lovely dress it was and insisting that she put a voluminous pink and white bow in her hair to complete the ensemble. They had also suggested that she wear pink and white candy-cane striped socks to match.

She had declined vehemently, and changed into another dress, albeit it was a light shade of cream, with no pink in sight. This time, the dress was actually very nice, rather simple and plain, with just a dash of sequins around the bodice. Her only real problem with it was that the colour just didn't go with her skin tone, making her look almost sickly pale instead of just being 'no sunshine' pale.

Shu Qing agreed, this time around, and shooed her back into the changing room to try on the last ensemble she had picked out. She had insisted, though, that she wear the cream dress in pink, stating that 'pink suits everybody'. The dark blue haired girl quickly backed away from her statement when she actually saw the pink dress on her, mentioning that, 'Maybe pink doesn't suit _everybody…_'

The last choice though, was actually somewhat suited to Zhi Hui's taste, even though it _did_ have a skirt. It was still pink, though. When she stepped out, eyeing the pale fuchsia blouse, embroidered with some kind of bird design with apprehension, she heard the girls cheer in delight. Her skirt was a little above knee-length, having a pattern of plaid white and pink with red accents, and a red belt pulled together the ensemble quite nicely, though Zhi Hui would never admit to liking something in pink and white. A red scarf was wrapped around her neck loosely, matching with the red belt.

'I'm still not buying anything,' she commented, much to the disappointment of the girls. 'But I actually like the style of this one. Maybe if it was black and blue?' she lightly joked, stepping back into the changing room to swap the pink and white outfit for her striped blouse and jeans.

As she stepped out, offering the girls the clothes so they could put them back where they belonged, she pulled the red scarf from the pile, tossing it over to Shu Qing. 'I'd recommend it for Lucia-sama,' she called to the girl as she adjusted the collar of her blouse. 'Red is a good substitute for pink,' she added, with a smug smirk at the girl for not getting her into a skirt or a dress permanently. 'And she _really _doesn't need any more of the latter.'

Ignoring the girl's pout at not getting her into pink for good, Zhi Hui chuckled to herself and got back onto the sofa to read again. After a couple of minutes more, wherein she finished another chapter of her book and moved onto the 'Great Reveal' of the story, she found her sight being interrupted by a plastic bag being shoved into her face. She raised a brow, and looked up to see the girls holding it out to her. Taking the bag, she opened it to see a deep blue blouse, a black and sapphire plaid skirt and a teal belt.

She noted that the designs all matched the last outfit exactly, the only difference being the colour of the ensemble. 'I… thanks,' she mumbled, unsure of what to say. 'I'll pay you girls back for it, how much —'

She was cut off by Lavena. 'Hey, no worries!' the older girl cheerfully pulled her to her feet. 'Consider it a thank you for helping us pick out Lucia-nee's birthday present.'

Zhi Hui fell into silence, musing for a minute before she grabbed her bag and headed out of the store, motioning for the girls to follow her. They went down to the ground floor and headed straight for McDonalds, where Zhi Hui had them wait for a couple of minutes before she returned with a handful of ice creams in hand. 'Here,' she muttered to them, handing them each one of the frozen treats. 'It's the least I could do for you girls in return.'

When Shu Qing shook her head in refusal of the dairy, she shrugged and said, 'I'll get you something next time.' She paused a bit as the girls walked around the mall. 'So, what next, you six?'

The girls looked at each other before Zhi Hui's phone rang at the same time that Lavena's did. Zhi Hui chuckled and answered her phone. 'Gaito-sama? Meeting's done? Great, I'll be right home.' She shut phone cover and gave the girls a small smile. 'Guess I'll see you girls tomorrow then.'

The girls shared bright smiles. 'Tomorrow it is!'

_End Chapter_

* * *

**Sneak peak of the next chapter (done in canon format):**

**Zhi Hui slams into the ground, muttering to herself. Gaito quickly approaches her and helps her up.  
**

_**Voice-over (Gaito): What happened?  
**_

**Zhi Hui shakes her head. Alala appears outside, twirling her baton smugly. Zhi Hui runs outside and is met by fire.  
**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): Oh, for crying out loud! You have got to be kidding me!  
**_

**Zhi Hui appears in a large crystal palace, looking around.  
**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): Okay, I have officially gone crazy.**_

**_Voice-over (Mysterious Voice): Not quite, Zhi Hui.  
_**

**_Voice-over (All): _****Jikai, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Mushoku no shinju ga e raremasu! Mottomo kanōsei wa hikui kōho! _(Next time, on Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, A colourless pearl is obtained! The most unlikely candidate!)_**

**Zhi Hui cracks her knuckles, covered by grey gloves.  
**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): This is going to hurt.**_

Shu Ting's song doesn't belong in the Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch fandom; it's actually a translation of 'Heart Moving' from Sailor Moon, adapted to the rhythm of the music. Shu Qing's song, which will be revealed in a later chapter, will also be from Sailor Moon, though not the anime adaptation.

Looks like we have three more chapters after this until the first arc is completed. The next chapter focuses on Zhi Hui, though it's admittedly shorter than I would have liked, only four thousand or so words. On the other hand, we get to have some eventual foreshadowing, and then we'll have chapter nine!

As always, constructive criticism is welcomed. Really, I need some feedback! I know people have been reading this, and I desperately need feedback and some ideas on what you guys reading this want me to write, if you like the characters, anything!


	9. Chapter 8: A colourless pearl obtained!

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

* * *

_Chapter 8: 無色の真珠が得られます！最も可能性は低い候補！(A colourless pearl is obtained! The most unlikely candidate!)_

Zhi Hui's fingers lazily drummed on the surface of her wooden desk. Despite Gaito constantly warning the students against resting their heads on their hands while class was in session, she still did it whenever he wasn't in class. With her right elbow resting heavily on the flat surface, the side of her head was pressed against her fist. Half-heartedly paying attention to her Maths teacher in front of the class, she let her mind wander as her eyes left the teacher.

The whiteboard, covered with multiple calculations written in black and blue entered her vision, as did the black notice board near the door. She squinted slightly, and her eyes caught sight of a note that Gaito had put there early in the morning. She hadn't paid it much attention then, but now that the teacher was just going over things that she already knew, she found the time to read it.

_公民作业记得完成，明天交给班长。—班主任 上 _

_Oh shoot._ Zhi Hui winced. The project that she had been assigned was due tomorrow, and she was still short of a couple of pages, and those particular pages were the most important in the project and the following presentation. Which reminded her…

The bell rang, cutting into her thoughts with the loud, shrill sound, and she winced slightly at how the already loud ringing sounded in her sensitive ears. Somehow, she still managed a deadpan quip as she packed her bag, though she made sure to say it under her breath, as well as say it in English, just in case anyone heard her mutter about her 'useless supernatural senses'. She snorted at the over-the-top precautions that she was taking.

The zipper of her bag was zipped up quite harshly, though it mostly owed to the fact that she wasn't very happy at the loud bell. Zhi Hui finally slung the black bag over her shoulders and stalked out the door, giving the Maths teacher a quick, respectful nod of the head that mainly equated to a bow, as well as a short 'goodbye'. When she had walked over to the door of the staff room, the clutter of footsteps behind her made the Panthalassan divert her attention to her three classmates.

Before Erwin could open his mouth, presumably to ask her to complete her part of her project, she waved her hand in a careless motion, simply choosing to talk to the three of them at once. 'You can come to my house to finish it,' she stated, trying to narrow down her vocabulary just in case. When she got a series of nods from the three, she knew her message had been delivered, and the girl looked back to the staff room's door.

Just as expected, her guardian exited the room while expertly holding a stack of rather heavy books in one hand, with the other being used to mark on open book on top of the stack. After a couple of seconds of frowning at something on the page, Gaito glanced at them before he used his free hand to toss the book in her direction. 'Catch, and tell me the problem with the answer.'

Swiping it from the air as it nearly hit her, the younger Panthalassan briefly glanced at the handwriting and blanched — well, she was in trouble this time. 'Oh.' She winced and quickly started walking towards the staircase. She had forgotten to double the number of the estimate following the pattern established in the table, and she was definitely going to get it when she got home. Knowing that Erwin, Chong Zhe and Wee Lip were probably talking to her guardian about their project, she quickly lengthened her stride and hastened down the stairs. Right now, the more distance between her and her guardian, the better, especially when his preferred choice of a punishment included a long rant about why she shouldn't be careless and copying the entire page down on a piece of paper ten times, including the images.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Around half an hour or so later, Zhi Hui was giving the three boys behind her a sharp glare as she kicked her shoes off. She crossed her arms over her chest before she decided to speak, remembering the 'disaster' they caused the last time they were here. 'Alright, you three,' she said, frowning. 'Don't go into my room, understand?'

When all three nodded, she shook her head and headed for her room, searching her files for a brief moment before she found a compilation of her handwritten notes for the project. Quickly reaching for a stapler, she stapled the multi-coloured notes together. Grabbing the neat little booklet, she exited her room and tossed it — more like shoved it — into Erwin's hold. A burning surfaced in her stomach and the raven-haired girl mentally groaned in irritation. _Why did Alala choose today of all days to launch a new crazed scheme?_

Yes, after the first couple of times, Zhi Hui had eventually started treating the demon attacks like it was a mad scientist's plot to take over the Tri-State Area. Mentally, she snorted at the comparison. Excusing herself from the scene, she quickly dashed into her room to change into a T shirt and pants before she left the house to confront Alala, cursing the demon all the way.

On the way, she was intercepted by Gaito, who was swinging the gate shut with one hand, the other holding onto the stack of books that he was marking. Latching the gate shut, he faced her with a raised brow. 'What's going on, Zhi Hui?'

She shrugged, opening the gate with a bit more force than necessary. 'Alala,' she simply responded. 'The boys are in the living room; hopefully, I can take care of her soon.'

Gaito frowned, using both hands to support the books. 'Be careful,' he warned. 'If anything happens, I'll distract them for a while until you can finish her off.'

With a short, jerky nod, Zhi Hui ran off in the very direction she sensed Alala in. Her fingers flexed as she bared a sharp, mirthless grin, ready to pound the dragonfly demon into the ground. She knew that she had the advantage, mainly because as long as the green haired pixie didn't sing, she had the physical advantage. _Let's just get this over with._

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Gaito watched the three boys as they wrote and rewrote sentences on a piece of scrap paper. A frown crossed his visage as he checked the clock. Over half an hour had passed since Zhi Hui had left to deal with a demon, and he was getting worried. The Panthalassan shook his head and returned his attention to the Science worksheets that had been handed in by the students. Checking the cover of a book for the name of the student, he sighed. _Looks like Zhewei still hasn't gotten the basics of making a hypothesis __—__ four out of five are still incorrect._ Marking the questions with a circle on the numbers, he folded the offending pages and set it aside.

'完成！' _(Finished!) _The yell from the three boys informed him that they were done with their project, and as he raised his head to look at them, a blur of black, blue, and white flew through the open door, slamming onto the floor, and the resulting mess it caused ending up with papers scattered over the floor.

'Ugh.' The missile winced and slowly sat up, revealing itself to be Zhi Hui. 'That _hurt_.' The Panthalassan girl carefully rubbed her head, pulling herself to her feet.

'Zhi Hui!' he hissed, quickly closing the distance between him and his ward to help her up. 'What the heck happened?'

The raven-haired girl shook her head vigorously, adjusting her spectacles, which had miraculously remained intact from the hard impact with the floor. 'Alala superheated the air. Caused an explosion and sent me flying,' she grumbled, rotating a shoulder.

Gaito didn't even flinch when he heard the sound of her bones audibly cracking.

She made a face and concentrated for a while, her left hand firmly secured on her right shoulder. After a while, her hand fell away and she shook her head. 'Where are they? On the off-chance that they see Alala or encounter her, I don't want to deal with them,' she reminded, stretching her right arm before she simply ran out of the door, eyes narrowed.

Frowning, Gaito realized that the three boys had run out the door when he followed his ward. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the fairy-like demon hovering in the air near the house. With a sigh, he noted Zhi Hui physically jump over the gate, not bothering to open the latch, with the three human boys staring at her in surprise. There would be a _lot _of modifying needed to convince them that they were just dreaming.

'Alala!' Zhi Hui's yell drew the green-haired demon's attention, and a wave and a flick of the baton she carried sent a torrent of red flames at the girl. With an ease that came only with the superhuman agility that Panthalassans had, the girl ducked under the fiery onslaught before evading a second stream of plasma. Unfortunately for her, the second attack, while aimed at her, was lined up with one of the boys, more specifically Wee Lip, who was also holding onto a booklet of stapled together paper.

Unsurprisingly, the usually cowardly boy flung the papers in front of him and scrambled well out of the fire's way. The multi-coloured papers caught on fire, and as paper did when confronted with fire, it burned up completely within seconds.

'Oh, for crying out loud! You have got to be kidding me!'

Gaito's eyes snapped back to Zhi Hui, who had her hands on her hips and her eyes were burning with anger. She didn't look very pleased with the demon. 'I spent an entire week researching that!' she yelled at Alala, who was leaning back slightly in the air, her features drawn out in surprise at Zhi Hui's sudden outburst. 'And then you go and _waste _an entire week's worth of notes!'

The dragonfly themed demon had turned around and was going to disappear any moment, but Zhi Hui leapt up and dragged her down to the ground, catching her by the wrist. 'Oh no you don't, you pest!' With a sharp swing, Zhi Hui sent the demon flying into the ground.

When she turned around, Gaito saw something that made him pause in his tracks. _I have to be seeing things,_ he thought, eyes widening just a little in surprise. _Why are her eyes blue?_

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui's fists tightened in anger and her eyes were shut as she tried to calm herself down. When she suddenly felt a shift in the reality around her, her eyes snapped open to find herself in some kind of a crystalline palace. _This settles it,_ she thought wryly with a sardonic smile. _I've officially gone crazy._

'Not quite, Zhi Hui.'

She whirred around to face a blonde woman with long, wavy hair and light blue eyes, dressed in a flowing powder blue dress and holding a golden staff. The woman was smiling kindly down at her, and radiating an aura of extreme power, one that Zhi Hui recognized as being similar to Lucia's, but only in passing. The bold silver tiara resting on her head was embedded with jewels, and Zhi Hui instantly pictured the woman as some sort of royalty. _Still doesn't matter if I don't know who she is, though,_ the Panthalassan considered.

'I am Aqua Regina.'

_Well, I'll be, the Ocean Queen herself. Now what have I done?_

Aqua Regina chuckled, and only then did the raven-haired girl consider the possibility of the blonde woman being able to read her thoughts. A small burst of energy at her neck drew her attention down to the grey shell necklace that was now glowing with a dull, colourless light. Zhi Hui silently wondered why it was grey instead of having a certain colour, but she quickly dismissed the thought. 'What am I doing here, Aqua Regina?' she asked cautiously, unsure on how to address a goddess, who, for all she knew, could have ill intentions against her.

The woman smiled at her, and suddenly, Zhi Hui felt her heart calm down. While she wondered if it was some kind of subconscious reaction to the Ocean Queen or a subtle magical push by her, she silently watched Aqua Regina as the blonde spoke to her.

'I'm sure you're aware of the Rainbow Notes, yes, Zhi Hui?'

The Panthalassan frowned, raising a brow in surprise at the _non sequitur_, making her note that all magical beings of extreme power often shared that one trait. She nodded warily to Aqua Regina in response, who then motioned for her to turn around. Seeing that obeying was of completely no loss to her, Zhi Hui conceded and turned around to see a wide mirror on the wall. She leant into the mirror, reeling back in surprise when she saw the midnight blue that had taken over her dark brown eyes.

'What just happened to me?' She swore that she saw her eyes actually _glowing_. 'Okay, let me rephrase, what does _this_ have to do with the _Rainbow Notes_?' She paused for a minute, frowning in thought. 'Scratch that, just tell me what I'm here for and I'll deal with these questions myself later.'

Looking into the mirror, she saw the reflection of the goddess raise a brow in what was probably surprise and confusion at her choosing to ignore the other questions in favour of the one she was currently placing as most important. 'So…' she drawled, turning around, silently wincing at how she was blatantly disrespecting a goddess. 'May I have my answers now, please?'

'Very well,' the goddess acquiesced, and her hand brought itself up, a soft glow encasing her hand, coalescing into a small orb of a dull grey, before finally collapsing into a small, grey pearl, almost completely unnoticeable if not for the soft glow that encased it. 'Your pearl,' Aqua Regina said in a gentle tone, offering the thing to Zhi Hui. 'Take it, Zhi Hui. For your destiny, it will be best that you have the pearl with you.'

Zhi Hui snorted at that statement. 'Forgive me for saying this,' the girl said in quite a dry tone, crossing her arms over her chest. 'But _"destiny"_ is just a load of drivel designed by idiots.' Her tone was firm, a scowl planted on her visage as she narrowed her eyes, vaguely aware of how the unnoticeable blue tint at the very edges of her vision turned visible as a soft glow framing her line of sight.

Aqua Regina frowned deeply. 'Normally I would not be saying this, but you are quite stubborn, young Panthalassan. Even your mentor was easier to convince that destiny is real.' She sighed. 'I suppose that I must do this now.' Her staff in hand, she pointed it directly at Zhi Hui. 'See, child of Panthalassa.'

Zhi Hui blinked and stumbled back as memories assaulted her mind. A teenage boy with bright orange hair surfing; two girls, one with long green hair and the other with short aqua hair, comforting a dark blonde; a young man with dark grey hair in suit; a courtroom and guards… 'Gah!' she shouted, shaking her head vigorously as she cleared her mind. 'What-what was _that_?' she shrieked loudly at the blond goddess.

Aqua Regina gave her a short smile, holding endless amounts of sympathy in her light blue eyes. 'Those were Lucia's memories before she came to Malaysia.' She presented the pearl to her once more, gently urging the girl to take it. 'Please take it, Zhi Hui. And I need you to remember one thing, dear child. "Beware the untrustworthy mermaid, their deceit will either save or doom the future".'

Zhi Hui, still disoriented by the force of the memories in her mind, shakily accepted the grey pearl, not even noticing as the item melted into her hands, emitting a violent glow from her necklace. Wincing from the sheer brightness, she raised her arms to shield herself from the light. The reality around her shifted once more, and the Panthalassan girl mentally jumped, her squeezed shut eyes snapping open in surprise.

She whirred around, realizing that she was back in front of her house. _Wait, what in Hades?_ A flash of sable caught her eye, and she noted, startled, that her hair was now as long as the other girls when they transformed. A slight turn to the right alerted her to a long pigtail tied at the side of her head. _Okay, what?_

She grabbed the pigtail with a hand, eyes widening in surprise when she saw the glove on her hand, coloured a middle toned grey. The glove resembled a classic opera glove, though only elbow length, instead of the kind that the other girls wore. It lacked fingers, except for the thumb, and there was a dark grey bent 'X' shaped frame on her forearm as well as her upper arm, extending past the gloves. Her other glove, the same grey, was also fingerless, with the thumb intact, though it was the same kind that the girls wore, with a band of dark grey pearls around her wrist.

The bodice of the three toned outfit was light grey, with the dark grey trim on top and a string of middle grey pearls connecting around her neck, along with the grey shell necklace with dark wings. A middle grey frame, similar in appearance to the one on her right glove was on her bodice. A dark grey waistline of ruffles trimmed off the end of the bodice.

The part that was most surprising to her was the fact that she was wearing light grey pants, tucked into the top of her middle grey boots, with heels that looked reasonably suited to running, which had the dark grey trim slung diagonally over her calves. _At least I'm not wearing a skirt,_ she thought with a slightly sarcastic tone.

'Ugh…' The sound made her snap her head back at Alala, and a frown crossed her features. She held her hands up to each other, briefly staring at the mismatched gloves before she shrugged and simply cracked her knuckles. This was going to be good. For her, that is, not Alala.

With a loud scream, the demon shot up into the air, wings buzzing like a desperate bug trying to get away from a predator. The expression planted on the demon's visage was anything but, with a snarl bared at her, and pink eyes literally aglow with anger. Her shoulders were drawn up close to her neck, her hands balled tightly into fists that were trembling. With a sneer, she pointed her baton at her, sending a large torrent of fire down at Zhi Hui, who immediately made a face.

'Great.' She paused briefly before realizing that sidestepping the attack altogether would actually be the best plan. When she took three steps forward, she looked back, and the fire poured harmlessly onto the road. She raised a brow; that was surprisingly easy. The Panthalassan looked back at Alala, instantly realizing why escaping the attack was so easy. _I should've brought my tablet and earphones out here with me. Dang it!_

_My cute gaze excites your pumping heart!_

_Ah~…I knew it…you are nailed down now by my gaze~_

_With the melody that you hummed_

_I want to make you fall in love with me!_

'Shut up!' she hissed, hands clamping over her ears, cursing loudly after she forced out the angry sentiment. 'Shut up, you accursed _bug!'_

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

_The morning awakes with the bright glow of sunlight_

_The promise that we made only yesterday…_

_I think I've already forgotten it_

_I would rather listen to the song of the wind anyway!_

_Beside__s__ the entire world revolves around me and only me!_

_Open the Magical Door_

_Open the Box of Miracles_

_It seems we'll defeat reality!_

Gaito winced, trying to block out the song. The older Panthalassan couldn't help but agree wholeheartedly with his charge — an accursed 'bug' indeed. Though a part of him wondered why he wasn't being subjected to the same effects that the three boys standing mindlessly on the street were, with their eyes filled with blind adoration, but the teacher quickly dismissed it as something to ponder later.

He could see that his ward was at the very least fed up with the green-haired twit, a scowl was written all over her features even though she did wince a little from time to time. Observing the girl, he noted that her dark hair and pale skin as well as the greyscale outfit she was in made her look a lot like a character in a black-and-white detective movie, though the golden mark of the Panthalassa was throwing him off. Through the ringing in his ears, he managed a snicker as he envisioned Zhi Hui as a black and white Sherlock Holmes, complete with the deerstalker and pipe.

_My loving kiss excites your pumping heart!_

_Ah~…as I thought…You Love Only Me~_

_If I can waive the Baton of Stars_

_I would want to make you fall in a trance!_

As the music abruptly ended, he could make out the demon shouting angrily at Zhi Hui, looking indignant. 'Take that, you irritating — ' Before she could finish her sentence, probably with a expletive, the sound of a body impacting the ground was heard as she was forcibly thrown back into the ground.

'Ugh.' Zhi Hui made a face as she shook her head hard, presumably to clear away the ringing that was most probably still in her ears. 'Consider _that_ payback, you little pest.' She blew her bangs away from her eyes, scowling as she regained footing.

Gaito barely hid an amused smile as his ward leapt at the demon with a fist drawn back. Though in hindsight, it would be rather foolish of him to let someone with known anger issues physically attack the person who had just irritated them, he held no qualms about letting her do it to a demon, especially one who was after _his_ Lucia. Then he blinked. Where had that last part come from?

'And good riddance!' Zhi Hui yelled, slinging the dragonfly demon into the air, her face screwed into a sneer as Alala screamed sharply. About halfway through her airborne trip, the green-haired pixie seemed to regain equilibrium, and hovered in the air, shouting at the raven-haired girl in Japanese, saying quite… unsavory things, in the least.

Zhi Hui snorted at the statement, storming over to him and jerking her thumb in the direction of the three disoriented students. She inhaled deeply, and he could see that she was counting to ten silently. With the last number, she exhaled forcibly, and she glanced up at his mildly amused smirk. 'I have homework to do,' she mumbled in a loud enough tone for him to know that he was left with damage control.

He chuckled as she shuffled to her room, her grey outfit disappearing in favour of her shirt and pants as she went. _Now,_ he thought, glancing over at the three of the boys. 'How should I do this?' he mused, assuming a thinking position.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

With a sigh, Zhi Hui leant back in her seat, clicking the mouse to eject the USB drive from the computer. She had rewritten all of her notes onto paper, as was required by the teacher's instructions. Luckily, she had kept a digitized version of all of her notes in the red USB, so even though Alala had reduced her previous, first copy of the notes to ash, she still had a back-up just in case. She shook her head with a rueful smile. _Moral of the story, always keep a back-up copy of anything you have._ She snorted. _At least my work didn't go to waste. _

Grabbing her stapler, she stapled the notes together and left her room, turning off the lights and fan on the way. With a slight smirk, she muttered, 'Well isn't this déjà vu?' Snickering, she noted that time was already half-past four, and that they three boys were already gone. The neat stack of papers held together with three cords reminded her of their project, and she flicked the pages open to the last pages that she was responsible for, and stuck the notes there with care not to tear the paper. Gently closing the 'book', she picked it up and deposited it into her room, mentally reminding herself to remember to put it in her bag the next day.

With a sigh, she sank into the monochrome sofa, her hands absently coming up to fiddle with the shell necklace around her neck. Suddenly, she jolted upright, reminded of the dull grey pendant and the small pearl within. The Panthalassan paused briefly, her hands lingering on the pendant for a short second before she took her necklace off. In the palm of her hand, the locket opened itself with a soft 'click', startling the girl.

Silent, the twelve-year-old turned the pendant around in her hands, carefully observing every inch of the grey coloured shell. The pearl glinted at her, and she found herself frowning; why was it so important that she needed to have this anyway? It made sense with the other six — they were mermaids, after all — but with her? She just didn't understand it. The pearl, a dull grey, seemed to have a reflection in the inside of the cover of the locket, and her curiosity piqued, the girl reached out to touch it.

Her fingers touched a smooth surface, like glass but not quite. Zhi Hui raised a brow with a frown; it didn't feel like glass, but it seemed almost synthetic, like some kind of half-frozen water that was solid, yet fluid at the same time. Shaking her head, she snapped the locket shut and let it drop back down. She tried calling up the memories that Aqua Regina had her experience previously, but she found that they had mostly faded away, with the one that remained being the one in the courtroom.

Sighing, the girl sank into the sofa, reaching for the remote to switch on the television, her mind drifting away from the necklace. 'Why does my life seem like it's a poorly written story by an amateur author?' she questioned with a shake of her head. 'Oh, who cares!' she threw her hands up and settled down to watch the television.

Just outside the house, Gaito frowned as he eyed the grey locket warily.

_End Chapter_

* * *

**Sneak peak of the next chapter (done in canon format):**

**Zhi Hui wakes up screaming. She gasps for air and shakes her head.  
**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): He's safe, I'm safe.  
**_

**Gaito stands outside the door before he finally knocks. Lucia answers it and Gaito looks visibly relieved.  
**

_**Voice-over (Gaito): Lucia, I need to talk to you. In private, preferably.  
**_

**Lady Bat looks around and realizes that his plan has been interrupted. He scowls and sees Lucia.  
**

_**Voice-over (Lady Bat): You! The Pink Pearl Princess! I should have known!**_

**_Voice-over (Lucia): For interrupting my day off, I'll give you the full Pichi Pitch treatment! Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!  
_**

**_Voice-over (Gaito &amp; Lucia): _****Jikai, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, ****Kyōshi no tsuitachi! Soreha-bidesu ka? _(Next time, on Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, The teachers' day out! Is it a date?)_**

**Zhi Hui looks at Gaito just as she is about to enter her room.  
**

_**Voice-over (Zhi Hui): Do you, oh, I don't know, have feelings for her?**_

So we've finally seen Zhi Hui's transformation. No song for her though; she fights with her fists, not her voice, so we won't be seeing this form again soon. I still like her design though. Anyway, the next chapter will more or less centre around Gaito and Lucia, and the one after that will be about the girls, which excludes Zhi Hui from the group, so we'll just leave her to her own devices for most of the next two chapters, and we'll be seeing her again in the chapters after that. We'll see what happens.

So if you like the story, please review! I know that people are reading this and probably enjoying too, but I still need encouragement!**  
**


	10. Chapter 9: The teachers' day out

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

* * *

_Chapter 9:__教師の一日！それは日ですか？ (The teachers' day out! Is it a date?)_

It was a calm night, peaceful, to say the least. The stars were blanketing the night sky in a dazzling array of majestic art, the moon was full and shining in the night… not that Zhi Hui was aware of this, though.

The girl was curled up in her bed, tossing and turning under the thin blanket she usually used in the hot and humid nights that Malaysia had. Her breathing was heavy, like she was running a triathlon, though under normal circumstances, she wouldn't be having trouble with it anyway. Mumbling incoherent words feverishly as she turned to lie on her side, she kicked away her blanket as her face drew itself into a pained expression. _'No!'_ the raven-haired girl yelped out, shaking her head hard. 'Don't hurt him!'

Her hands grabbed at the empty air, like she was trying to pull someone. '—ng Khai!' she cried out, tossing and turning in the bed again. A sheen of perspiration coated her skin, matting her hair to her forehead. Her brow furrowed, as a faint golden glow bled out from under her hair. She released a shuddering breath through gritted teeth, wincing sharply in pain. 'No, no, _no!'_

The Panthalassan jerked up to a sitting position, her brown eyes having turned a dark shade of midnight blue and the intricate cross on her brow fully apparent from under her hair, the glow bleeding out from under the thick raven strands. Her eyes wide, Zhi Hui started muttering incomprehensibly, her hands reaching up to gently tug at her hair in an absent attempt to gather her attention. '—Khai is safe, he's safe, I'm safe,' she muttered, and exhaled heavily. 'And I'm nowhere near a bow and arrows. I'm not trying to kill anyone…'

With a heavy groan, she flopped back onto her bed, her eyes closing. She brought her hands up to cover her face with an unintelligible mutter as she turned in the bed, reaching blindly to get her blanket back. After a couple of moments, she sighed, sitting up as she ran her fingers through her hair. The girl narrowed her eyes and squinted at the clock placed across the room, finally giving up trying to read the numbers without her glasses.

Zhi Hui tossed the blanket aside and trudged towards the clock, swiping it from its place across the room, glancing at the face and bringing it close to her face. When she had discerned the hands of the clock well enough, she replaced the clock and returned to her bed with a sigh, lying on her back while staring blankly at the ceiling.

'It's already midnight…' she mumbled, drowsy, though her recent nightmare left her wanting to stay awake. Pulling the blanket over her face, she managed to note, 'and it's a Sunday too…' before she finally nodded off, curling up with a yawn.

The door, cracked open the slightest bit, then opened fully and Gaito stepped into the room, glancing concernedly at the girl. He pulled the chair at her desk over to the side of her bed and took a seat, and with a sigh, looked over to the clock. The older Panthalassan shook his head, and gently stroked the sleeping girl's hair. 'Goodnight, Zhi Hui,' he finally muttered with a sigh to the younger Panthalassan. 'I just hope you don't have any more nightmares.'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

That very morning, after Gaito had dropped Zhi Hui off at the Taekwondo centre with the girl assuring him that she could go home herself, he drove the car right over to where he knew Lucia would be, Lavena and Shusmeetha's house. Muttering to himself about the pros and cons of 'putting this off until later', he shook his head and redefined and narrowed his mental goal down to talking with Lucia. Sighing, he knocked on the door.

To his relief when he heard the footsteps from upstairs, it was Lucia who came to answer the door. Gaito released the breath he didn't know he was holding, knowing he was still rather awkward when dealing with parents, especially considering the circumstances could easily be twisted, by Zhi Hui in particular, who had a love for rather ribald humour from time to time. 'Lucia,' he finally greeted, pulling himself from his thoughts. 'I need to talk to you. In private, preferably.'

The brunette raised a brow but after several seconds, finally gave him a positive response. 'Um, okay, I guess. Just hold on for a second…' She turned and called out something in Chinese to Lavena, who, presumably answered back — he didn't really pay attention — before she turned back to him with a soft smile. 'So,' she murmured, opening the door as she retreated back into the living room for a brief pause, returning with a red purse in hand. 'How about we go out to talk?'

'Right,' he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced away from her. He had never really been able to talk to ladies without stumbling all over himself, even though a younger Zhi Hui had been laughing at him as his female peers fawned and flirted with him all throughout secondary school. Ironic, because he had explicitly created the Dark Lovers to have those exact traits towards him, that is to say, be obsessively infatuated with him to the point of total obedience.

He widened his stride, opening the door of the passenger seat and held it for Lucia, who he swore giggled lightly at the action. Closing the door lightly, he mentally grumbled at himself — his class teacher had always said that he was just too chivalrous towards the girls of his class and the mainly female teachers for his own good. Now that he thought about it, he was certain that the girls of his class were often talking about him when they thought he wasn't around, with one conversation in particular about his chivalry and why he didn't have a girlfriend with his attitude.

As he slid into the driver's seat, he vaguely caught Lucia muttering about why 'Kaito couldn't be more like him'. Briefly, he frowned at the mention of his twin, but redirected his attention to the road when Lucia looked back at him. Starting the car and slowly driving out to the road, he finally cleared his throat, and asked, 'So where did you have in mind, Lucia?'

'Well, I was thinking, if you hadn't had breakfast yet, maybe we could go to Taiping Mall and have it there.'

Gaito paused at a T-junction, giving Lucia a look he was sure the pink mermaid noticed. He hoped it didn't speak what he was thinking. Finally, he gave a nod and turned right at the junction when he was given the chance. 'Uh, sure, Lucia,' he said. _I hope Zhi Hui doesn't get wind of this,_ he thought with a sigh. _She can twist anything out of proportion, and I really don't need Donglin prying into my love life, not _ muttered something more about his class' English teacher and his ward, who was coincidentally the teacher's pet.

Within a good half-an-hour, they had arrived in the mall, and both were currently sitting at a table in a café, with Gaito and Lucia awkwardly staring at each other. 'So,' Gaito coughed, looking down at his cup before glancing back at the brunette. 'About the girls,' he started slowly, choosing a topic that only had the barest connection to what he really wanted to talk about.

'Hm?' Lucia blinked, taking a sip of her tea before putting her cup down and wincing. 'What about them, Gaito?'

'Well, if I remember correctly, mermaids are an all-female race, yes?' he said, speaking in a tone low enough that Lucia could hear him, but not much louder. 'And according to the "Prophecy of the Rainbow Notes",' here he made the motion of air-quotes with one hand, ' "seven hybrids with power untold" should mean that the girls have mermaid blood,' He leant forward and took another sip of his coffee, staring straight at Lucia. 'However, if I remember correctly from what you mentioned when we met, you told me the girls were half-mermaids.'

Lucia raised a brow questioningly. 'Where are you going with this, Gaito?' she asked, tilting her head to the side slightly, with a frown on her face. 'There's nothing strange about that.'

Gaito had a wry grin on his face as he continued, 'You forget that Shu Ting's family, particularly her maternal side, have been featured quite a few times in the papers. Considering that they've probably been in Malaysia for a century or so, Shu Ting shouldn't be a half mermaid.'

'Oh, that's easy to explain!' Lucia laughed softly. 'Mermaid genetics are weird in comparison to humans, considering we get drunk on soda, so that really shouldn't be hard to believe.' Leaning back in her chair, she let a smile tug at her lips as she explained the situation. 'You see, mermaid blood is more or less like a recessive gene, I think,' she paused briefly, frowning. 'I got a C in Biology, so that probably wasn't the correct example. Ah well. Mermaid genes are completely dormant within males, but in females, it eventually starts to overwrite their other blood until adulthood, when said mermaid becomes a full-blooded one.' She gave a small chuckle at the end of the sentence. 'That sometimes results in mermaids with a long line of male ancestors freaking out.'

Gaito chuckled at that as well, picturing one of the six girls running around, panicking in the very stereotypical way often pictured in animations. He leant back in his chair, almost distracted from what he wanted to talk about. Almost. 'That would be amusing to see.' He wouldn't deny that he had his fair share of enjoyment out of seeing others' discomfort, especially when he put the pressure on his class for their homework and assignments; he wasn't called the 'Devil Teacher' by the forty students for nothing, after all.

'Wait,' Lucia frowned briefly. 'You said Zhi Hui was a full-blooded Panthalassan, right? Then how does she fit into the prophecy?'

He shrugged, he honestly had no answer for this. 'Maybe she has some other blood from one side of her family, though her parents are probably unaware of that.' Draining his coffee, he looked directly at Lucia, finally deciding to voice out the entire problem. 'Lucia,' he started slowly, placing the cup down. 'The truth is that I need to talk to you about Zhi Hui.'

Lucia blinked in surprise and set her cup down. 'Zhi Hui?' Brows knitted together, she frowned in concern. 'What's wrong? And why do you need to talk with me?'

'Well…' Gaito sighed heavily. 'The first thing you need to know when it comes to Panthalassans is that we sometimes have very prophetic dreams.'

'Lavena's been having those,' Lucia cut in with a frown. 'They're always things she doesn't understand, though.'

Gaito shook his head, continuing. 'No, it's different. Dreams like those are about major events in the future, and they always come true.' He glanced at her face and was prompted to continue. 'You remember the last battle, yes?' Rhetorical as that question was, both teachers fell into silence for a while as the memories resurfaced from over ten years ago.

'Well, when I was around, say, twelve or so, I began having these dreams that vividly played out the events of said time, right down to each little detail,' he deadpanned. Hearing the small 'oh my' from Lucia, he continued, 'Zhi Hui's been having recent night terrors, and she wakes up screaming and muttering to herself that she's not going to kill someone.' With a relatively grim smile, he released a small sigh and stared at the mermaid. 'Considering these dreams _might_ come true, I'm worried about what's going on inside her head.

'And as to why I came to you? Well,' he paused to glance out of the café for a brief second to gather his thoughts, which had started to wander as he spoke with Lucia, some odd reason. He just felt like he wanted to prolong the talk for as long as he could. Mentally filing those thoughts away for later consideration, he shook his head and turned back to the brunette mermaid. 'You _are_ the school's counsellor, after all, and they say that pink mermaids are usually more empathic than their counterparts.' _And I like spending time with you __—__ wait, what?_

Unaware of his thoughts, Lucia frowned, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. 'Maybe she's just under pressure, it's her UPSR year, after all.' She hummed briefly before her eyes twinkled with amusement. 'I can't really tell unless I know what's going on, it could be just a dream where she's thinking that she's hunting for all we know!' she joked in a light tone.

'Yeah,' Gaito mumbled. 'Maybe.' He doubted that was the situation, but he certainly hoped it was true — Zhi Hui dreaming about killing people would turn out to be bad. _Very _bad.

'How about you just lay off on the homework?' Lucia gently suggested. 'You do know that the students of 6M would appreciate it, right?'

He frowned. 'It's their UPSR year. If they don't understand the material before the trial exams, they're going to fail — hold on,' he muttered. His eyes narrowed as he glanced at the stage in the centre of the mall, which, coincidentally enough, was close to the café. Something seemed off…

A man in a white tuxedo, complete with a top hat and cane stepped onto the stage. He had a black ponytail and wore a black bat-shaped mask, and looked suspiciously familiar to the first glance…

_Oh, that's what._ Gaito frowned. Signalling the waiter over, he paid the bill and grabbed Lucia by the wrist, motioning her out of the café.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lucia jumped a little as she quickly followed Gaito out of the café, silently wondering what he was doing. Suddenly, he stopped, facing the stage, and Lucia naturally led her line of vision over to what he was glaring at. A frown crossed her lips, and she muttered, 'Lady Bat?' Her brow furrowed together, she pressed her lips together into a thin line. _Not again._

Lady Bat was apparently acting out the role of a magician this time, as he swept off his hat and tapped it with the end of the white and black cane, producing a cloud of bats instead of the expected flock of doves, which arranged themselves into a heart-shaped mass. Bowing theatrically to the amassed crowd, a tap of the stereotypical cane summoned a spinning disco ball in the middle of the air. Almost instantaneously, the lights seemed to dim, and Lucia heard Gaito mutter a curse word under his breath.

The mermaid held back a wince at the profanity, but she agreed with him. She had hoped that the day would be peaceful, after all. Changing her focal point from the disco ball to the disguised demon, she scowled as she realized what the incognito cross-dresser was doing. 'Hold on,' she said to Gaito, in a soft tone that was barely heard over the crowd cheering at the demon's illusions. 'We need to get out of here before he sings.'

'What? Why?' Though she ignored the questions, Gaito still followed her as she dashed to the escalators and practically ran up them. 'Lucia!' he hissed. 'Slow down!'

When she was properly on the second floor, she frowned a bit before she nodded — they should be far enough. 'I have no idea what Lady Bat wants to do with the crowd,' she said to the Panthalassan as he reached her side, 'but he's probably going to try to hypnotize them. This is probably far enough out of the range of the song, so we shouldn't be affected.'

Right as she finished, Gaito winced and took a discreet step back. 'Sure,' he muttered with a scowl at the sound. 'So what do you propose?'

Lucia smiled at him, fingering her necklace as she glanced down at the stage. The soft pink glow from the pearl inside her shell locket didn't go unnoticed by the two. The mermaid clicked the locket open, and for a brief second, the pearl pulsed brightly, blinding the two. 'Well, what other option is there?' she quipped. 'As always, I transform, sing, break the trance, and we end the day with an encore.' She shrugged nonchalantly. 'It's how Hanon, Rina, and I always did it.'

Suddenly, she fell silent, the mere mention of the two names bringing up unpleasant memories. And considering said memories were about the two basically calling the guards on her as she tried to flee, she considered that she had a right to do so. A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see Gaito offering her a rather sympathetic expression.

Their eyes meeting, she finally shook her head and clasped her locket. 'Right.' She glanced down at the pink shell. 'Pink Pearl Voice!' When the transformation ended, thankfully not drawing any attention at all due to Lady Bat's performance having sent all of the patrons into a trance, the blonde warily eyed the masked demon from the second level, frowning as she thought of a way to interrupt the song without getting caught in the demon's control.

Without having to voice her thought to Gaito, the Panthalassan already seemed to have an idea of what she needed. 'Hold on, Lucia. I think I can take care of this,' he clarified to her as he gestured in the direction of the stage below. 'The disco ball should be the problem,' he explained with a thoughtful look as the spinning ball pulsed suddenly with light. 'I suspect that it's what Bat is using to channel his powers through, so I'll find a way to disrupt or, preferably, dismantle it, and once it's gone, you interrupt and sing before he can.' The teacher gave the mermaid a small grin. 'Sound simple enough?'

Lucia had to hold back a snort. Hypothetical guesses were beyond her, but the mermaid had a feeling that he was right. The flash of light from the disco ball made her a little light headed, but glancing down at the disguised demon, she noted that he seemed a little smug. _I hope he's not going to try and get to the girls,_ she frowned. _And if he's still after me, well, I'm sure I can show him what's what. _The mermaid shot the Panthalassan one last glance and noted him sketching invisible diagrams in the air, looking like he was making quick calculations.

She hurried to the floor below and hid behind the crowd, her blue eyes on Gaito as the man continued to stand there, arms crossed. After a few more seconds, the mermaid saw a small spark of dark purple and black coalesce in his hands, and it expanded slightly before he took a step back. She guessed that he was taking aim, because not three seconds later, a sphere of crackling electricity hurtled down through the air and crashed into the spinning disco ball, shattering it and sending shards flying all over the stage.

'W-what?!' Bat's exclamation reached her ears as the blonde saw the amassed crowd slowly sink to the ground, unconscious. She looked up to the stage, and saw Lady Bat glaring down at her.

'You! The Pink Pearl Princess! I should have known!' the cross-dresser shrieked in annoyance. After taking a few breaths though, he had composed himself once more, and the demon whipped off his mask, and dropped his disguise of a stage magician. He lifted into the air, violet eyes burning in anger as he crossed his arms over his chest. 'But that doesn't matter now!' he declared. 'Experience my song, and fall into my trap!'

Lucia brought her microphone up, but it seemed like she was just a little too late, because Lady Bat already had a head start. The pink mermaid cursed herself for waiting when she should have hit the demon with her song the first thing she could.

_The moment that the suspiciously swaying wind escapes from its confinement_

_I'll make you forget many things along with your pure devoted love_

_Let us engrave a new time into the black world of darkness_

_It is okay not to worry about someone else and hurt your own fragile heart_

'Gah!'

Lucia's eyes snapped back into focus and the blond mermaid shook her head to clear her muddled thoughts. The shout from Bat as he stumbled forward in midair had effectively cut his song in half. Gripping her microphone, Lucia found herself looking at the second floor, where she spotted Gaito giving her what looked like a thumbs up from the edge. She nodded to herself, there was no time to dawdle now.

Not even giving Bat another second to rest, she raised her microphone. 'For interrupting my day off, I'll give you the full Pichi Pitch treatment!' she taunted the demon, who now looked like he was still disoriented. 'Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!' Her pearl, inset in her microphone, glowed a bright pink, and Lucia suddenly found herself singing an unfamiliar song. Though… it felt like it was one of _her _songs.

_Gliding on the azure waves like a small white coloured yacht made from origami_

_Leaving everything to the calming wind, where will I go? As I become closer to a place..._

_Even though you are so close to me, I still can't touch your feelings for me_

_I want to make you believe in the truth between us and confirm it for me_

Lucia looked up at Gaito and she saw him smiling as he leant on the railing. The mermaid felt a warm feeling burst in her heart, and she allowed herself a short smile back up at him. She gave a short wave and noticed that the crowd was slowly getting to their feet again. Her smile widened.

_I can open my treasure box for you with my key, if you can become gentler_

_Your impatient feelings will change into courage and then I can tell you my true feelings_

_I will love you forever_

She closed her eyes and hummed the tune to the song as she finished it. The impromptu cheering of the crowd made her blue eyes snap open as she declared the same taunt that she always did after defeating the demons. 'How about an encore?' Though, Lady Bat was nowhere to be seen, this time around, and she was standing on the stage, surrounded by the Live Stage glow. When had he disappeared, and when had she moved to the stage?

'Encore! Encore!'

Lucia looked at the cheering crowd, and for a split second, she felt like she was fourteen again, singing at the New Year's concert with Hanon and Rina having made up after a nasty spat. Then she actually took into consideration what the crowd was cheering about. _Well,_ she mused. _If it's an encore they want…_ She smiled brightly.

Gathering the feeling of the familiar song from Aqua Regina, she imbued her microphone with the same lovely feeling, and a brief glow sparked from her pearl. 'Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!'

_Starlight!_

_If you can gather more light from the stars_

_Then I believe that you can thoroughly change this world_

Super Love Songs. What a nostalgic memory from nearly a decade ago. Lucia could practically hear Hanon and Rina's voices singing with her, and she was sure that the way her pearl shone had something to do with it. One hand clasping her locket, she continued her song.

_Even if the depths of the seas stop me_

_The winds ahead do not even faze me_

_But only if you swear not to let go_

_Of my hand!_

The crowd was cheering even harder, and Lucia suddenly felt the urge to look up. She glanced towards the second floor, and she realized that Gaito was watching her from the opposite side of where he had been standing previously.

He gave her a short wave and resumed leaning on the railing as she sang. And though Lucia couldn't see it clearly, she swore he was grinning.

_Our dreams can begin in a Super Live!_

_On a stage made out of light and shadows_

_We will convey love with our Super Songs!_

_And give you some courage in our song of love_

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Gaito walked along Lake Garden with Lucia right beside him. He spared the sun a quick glance and saw that it was already halfway set, dying the sky the same sunset red and orange it always was. Sparing a smile at the constant beauty of the sunset he turned his attention back to Lucia. Just in time too, as the brunette appeared as she wanted to ask him a question.

'Say, Gaito,' Lucia started absently. 'You wouldn't have happened to have a history in basketball in school, would you?'

He chuckled. 'Oh no,' he denied quickly. 'I was actually part of the javelin team. I took part in the extracurricular archery team too, but that wasn't included in my school report card.' Gaito grinned at the pink mermaid for a brief second. 'Not that it mattered, anyway. Having a history with bows and arrows doesn't exactly help when you're applying for a position as a teacher.'

Lucia burst into soft laughter when he was done talking. 'I just can't picture you holding a bow and arrow.' She shook her head, still fighting back a giggle. 'You always struck me as a more of a sword person.'

The Panthalassan snorted and ran a hand through his hair. 'You have no idea how hard a sword is to handle, Lucia. Fighting with one isn't as easy as it's shown in the movies, you know.' He would know; the scar from an accident when he was much, much younger was as much of proof as it was a reminder that sword fighting _definitely _wasn't for him.

Lucia chuckled at bit at his statement. 'I guess so. But really? You were in the archery team?' The slight disbelief in her voice made it clear that she didn't believe that he could do it.

He shrugged. 'You're talking to the three-time champion, Lucia.' Between only attending the practices and club meetings from his fourth year to his last in secondary school, he reckoned he had gotten quite the grounding, considering that he had overtaken the previous champion with quite a lot of points.

Lucia raised a brow. _'Really_ now?' she teased lightly. 'Although,' she paused briefly to smile at him. 'Thanks for interrupting Bat for me.'

Gaito only smiled at the mermaid. _That's twice for me, nil for the bat. _He held back a snicker at the thought. 'That second song…' he trailed off as they headed back towards his car. 'I still remember it from, what was it again? Ten or eleven years ago?'

'Eleven.' Lucia sighed. 'I'll be twenty six in July, so that was eleven years ago, nearly twelve.'

Both were silent for a while as they each recalled their memories of that particular day. A tension hung in the air between them, so thick that you could probably sever it with a butcher's knife. 'Time passes quickly, doesn't it?' Gaito muttered, breaking the silence between them with one sentence. 'I mean,' he continued when he found that she was looking at him again. 'It's nearly been a dozen years since the day we first met, and now we're both — '

'Lucia-nee!'

Gaito frowned, being cut off the simultaneous chorus of Lucia's name by six voices. Both parties glanced to the front, and found that the six girls, each wearing a colour of the rainbow on them, except for red, were running towards them.

One of them, Shu Qing, ran up to Lucia first, holding a golden trophy in one hand, shaped like a microphone. The other five soon followed, and it quickly became apparent that all but one of them, Lavhanya, were put of breath. After letting the girls catch their breath for a couple of seconds, Shu Qing started bouncing on her heels excitedly, her blue hair flying into the air.

'Look! I got my pearl! I got my pearl!' she exclaimed in the softest voice she could without actually lowering her voice enough for it to simply be an enthusiastic statement. 'Oh, and I won the singing competition too, but _I got my pearl!'_ she cheered.

Gaito raised a brow at the strange choice of priorities that the girl had but chose not to comment on it further. 'So, Lucia, I guess this is it for today?' Why was he sounding so disappointed again?

'Huh?' Lucia blinked a couple of times before fully registering what he was saying. 'Oh yes! I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I guess I'll be leaving with the girls then. I'll see you tomorrow?' she asked, her tone making it seem like a question when they both knew that they would; their seats were just opposite each other, after all.

'Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow.' And with a quick, cordial nod to the six girls, he turned and walked off. As he did so though, he pulled his phone out and sent a quick message through Whatsapp to Lucia. He smiled, pocketing his phone once it was done. _And this day was just perfect._

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Zhi Hui looked up from her tablet, stopping her snickers from reading the infamous 'My Immortal' spill out. _That Tara sure is a funny one,_ she mused with a grin still on her face as she looked over to the door, where Gaito was stepping in. She pressed the tips of her fingers together and smirked at her guardian as he gave her a glance. 'Enjoy your date with Lucia-sama?' she quipped, taking extra care to pronounce the last few words especially clearly.

At that exact moment, she felt like pulling out her phone to snap a picture of her guardian's face, especially with the not-so-faint flush at the mention of the pink mermaid's name. She snickered to herself. _Oh, this is just _priceless_!_

Gaito cleared his throat and took the time to gather his wits before he spoke to her again. 'And how did you know about that?'

Zhi Hui's grin widened. _Least he didn't protest the notion of it._ 'Oh, it's nothing. Madam Donglin was just passing through Lake Garden and she asked me about and I quote, "When did the two of them get together?" over WeChat.' At the frown on his face though, she quickly added, 'Don't worry, I told her that the two of you were probably just discussing the recent problems you have with the class. Nothing to worry about.'

Actually, she had said, 'They're not together just yet, but I'll bet they do before the end of this year. How much are the other teachers betting on it?', but he didn't have to know that.

'Right.' His tone was quite dry.

She could tell he didn't believe her, and that just made her snicker even more. Picking up her tablet and preparing to enter her room, she paused just outside the door. 'Say, Gaito-sama?'

He looked up from opening an exercise book from her class. 'What is it, Zhi Hui?'

'Do you, oh, I don't know, have, say, feelings for Lucia-sama?'

He was silent for a while. And just before she entered her room, deciding that he wasn't going to give her an answer that night, he spoke again. 'Yes.'

_And I win part one!_ She smirked. 'Good to know. Now for some well deserved rest from Lanhua's little mess this afternoon…' Boy was she going to enjoy winning the staff bet!

_End Chapter_

* * *

**Sneak peak of the next chapter (done in canon format):**

**Shu Qing wakes up to the alarm.**

_**Voice-over (Shu Qing): Today's the day!**_

**Alala twirls her baton on stage, lifting herself into the air and crossing her arms over her chest. **

_**Voice-over (Alala): Are you coming out or not, mermaids?  
**_

**Shu Qing sings to the crowd and they cheer. Alala turns around, and Shu Qing transforms**

_**Voice-over (Shu Qing): As the pretty idol soldier of cool justice, I'll punish you on the behalf of the seven seas!**_

**_Voice-over (The girls): _****Jikai, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Kyōfu no kōgeki o jōen! Kōri no shinju no mezame!** **_(Next time, on Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Stage fright attacks! The ice pearl's awakening!)_**

**Lavena pauses on the stairs.  
**

_**Voice-over (Lavena): Lucia-nee... do you have... feelings for him?**_

Obviously, yes, otherwise I wouldn't have put it in the pairings. I'm a diehard Gaito/Lucia fan, mainly because I just hate Kaito. I ship Mikeru/Lucia and Rihito/Lucia too, but nothing gets my heart pumping in glee more than seeing Kaito getting his just desserts, or reading Gaito/Lucia fanfiction. I'm just weird like that. I ran out of preview quotes to show, so I just settled on Shu Qing's In The Name Of The Moon Speech with minor edits.

The next chapter marks the end of the first arc, and after that we'll have a small special in April, after which I'll continue with the second arc, which means more character development, yay!


	11. Chapter 10: The Ice Pearl's awakening

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

* * *

_Chapter 10: __恐怖の攻撃を上演！氷の真珠の目覚め！(Stage fright attacks! The ice pearl's awakening!)_

The shrill ringing of Shu Qing's alarm clock made the sleepy girl jump straight out of bed, her eyes wide and alert as she checked the time of her digital clock. The dark blue-haired girl gave a sigh of relief as she flopped back onto her bed. 'Nine o'clock on a Sunday. No school.' Suddenly, she frowned; if it was a Sunday, then why did she set her alarm clock again?

Looking across the room, the girl saw her calendar, the date encircled several with bright pink Sharpie marker, and the Chinese words scribbled onto in her messy handwriting read:_ Singing competition at Taiping Sentral. 12:00._

Her eyes brightened at that and she quickly jumped out of bed again and raced to the calendar. Picking up a red Sharpie she had tied to the calendar's side, she crossed out the date of the day before and circled the date again, putting a small exclamation mark inside as she silently squealed in delight. 'Today's the day!' she cheered to herself. 'I'm going to win the trophy, even if it's the last thing I do!' She already had a large advantage on her side; her voice, thanks to having mermaid heritage, was naturally lovely to listen to, so if anyone could beat her, they probably weren't human.

Opening the door to her room, the eleven-year-old sped towards the bathroom, running past her very confused younger sister, seven, who blinked in surprise as she made her mad dash to the bathroom. Just over an hour later, Shu Qing was in her room, bouncing up and down on her heels as she tied a final hair ribbon in her hair, a light, sparkly blue to complement her darker hair colour. She was determined to look her best, even if it was just an inter-school event that she was participating in — first impressions, after all, were incredibly hard to change.

Ducking her head out of her room, she called out to her mother, who was probably downstairs making breakfast. 'Mummy!' she called, careful not to yell in case she wore out her voice before noon. 'I'm ready to go to 'Vena's!' She bounced on her heels in excitement as she smiled brightly at herself in the mirror. Her plan was to sing 'Legend of Mermaid' to the judges, and if it went well, then everything else would go over just fine.

Receiving an 'Alright, dear!' in response, from her mother, the dark blue-haired girl ran out her room and headed towards the stairs to eat her breakfast before her loving mother drove her to Lavena and Shusmeetha's house, where their parents would take the whole group to Taiping Sentral.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

'Is not!'

'Is too!'

'Is not!'

'Is too!'

Lavena tuned out the sound of Yi Phing and Lavhanya arguing over whether blue was the best colour. The former favoured light blue over all the colours in the entire spectrum, while the Indian girl preferred green. Understandable, considering that each had the pearl of their favoured colours.

Shusmeetha was still in the bathroom, and Lavena could hear her younger sister singing 'Sekai de Ichiban Hayaku Asa ga Kuru Basho'; at least, that was what her orange-loving sister called her song. Lavena wasn't so sure that it was proper Japanese, but hey, it was her sister's song, whatever floated her boat, right?

Speaking of songs though, it was the day of Shu Qing's singing competition. The younger girl had already called a few minutes ago to inform them that she was ready, and that she would be arriving in a couple more minutes so that all six of them could go to Taiping Sentral together, preferably early, so that she could register with her teacher.

The door to her predominantly lavender and pastel pink room opened, Shusmeetha sticking her head in before the youngest of the group skipped in with a towel wrapped around her hair. 'I'm done!' she chirped enthusiastically, taking a seat on Lavena's bed with Shu Ting, who was texting on her phone to Shu Qing. Now that all of the girls, except for Shu Qing, were together, Lavena could see that their outfits were colour-coded, like always, though they each had another colour besides their dominant one on them.

Yi Phing and Lavhnaya, in light blue and green respectively, each wore an accessory with the other's colour on it, mainly due to their closeness and tendency to partner up whenever the girls were split up into pairs. She and her sister were in purple and orange, of course, but Shusmeetha had a purple bow in front of her orange dress and she herself wore orange shell earrings. Though Shu Ting was without her partner, she was in yellow, and she wore a blue watch. Lavena was certain that Shu Qing would be wearing dark blue, with yellow as an accent.

Suddenly, the purple-haired girl felt uneasy, like she did whenever she was about to have another of her visions. They had been appearing more frequently as of late, and anytime she fell asleep, she would have detailed dreams of something that had happened in the past. Her latest dream was of the two Black Beauty Sisters' first defeat, which she recognized from a story that Lucia had once told her.

Her eyes glazed over, but instead of having the past playing out in front of her, she instead saw a brief segment of the playground near her home. Zhi Hui was there, and the girl did not look happy. '_You tricked me!' _she yelled. And then… nothing. It was over as quickly as it came.

Lavena shook her head. _Weird vision,_ she frowned. _But it could just be nothing._ The doorbell ringing got the girls' attention, and after a few seconds, the door to Lavena's room opened again, and Shu Qing walked in, dressed in a dark blue dress, with a yellow belt.

The girl smiled brightly. 'I'm ready!' she cheered enthusiastically. She paused, looking around. 'Hey,' she started, frowning. 'Where's Lucia-nee?'

'Out,' Yi Phing cut in before the oldest of the six could respond. Playfully sticking out her tongue at the older girl, the blue-haired half-mermaid leapt to her feet, followed closely by Lavhanya, who scrambled onto her feet while tugging on the short sleeves of her blouse, presumably to pull them down from where she had bunched them up before.

'So, ready to go, girls?' Lavena asked, already at the door, her fingers on the light switch, which she regrettably still needed to reach a little over her head to reach. The girls filed out quicker than she could see, and the purple-haired girl blinked when she saw that all of them were already rushing down the stairs while talking excitedly about how Shu Qing was sure to win. Lavena grinned and switched off the lights and the fan, quickly hastening down the stairs to catch up with her sister and friends.

'Hey!' she called as she reached the bottom of the staircase. 'Wait for me, girls!'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls  
**_

'Come on!'

Shu Qing barely registered Shu Ting's voice as she glanced around the centre of the shopping mall, where the stage was located on the first floor. There seemed to be an awful lot of people there. She swallowed nervously, following Shu Ting's lead to find their school's singing teacher.

In a couple of minutes, they found the short, and rather plump woman by the registration table, looking around impatiently as if searching for someone. Then she saw Shu Qing, and she smiled encouragingly at her. 'Shu Qing, there you are!'

Shu Qing nodded, really noticing the crowd right then. The first floor was already packed; the second and third floors had people leaning against the railing to watch. Suddenly, the girl felt like hiding. She was the only one of the girls not to get their pearl yet, and she was really feeling nervous about it.

'You can do it, Qing!' Shu Ting called from where her friends were in the crowd, and Shu Qing hastened over to sign her name on the registration form after her teacher filled in the information needed.

_I can do this, _Shu Qing told herself. _I can do this, I can do this, I can do this…_ She looked around again. The crowd was even _bigger._ She paled. _I can't do this._

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls  
**_

Shusmeetha was _bored_. Yes, she was bored in a singing competition, where people were usually amazed by singing talents. Why? Well, maybe it was because she knew that Shu Qing was bound to win, even though she didn't have her pearl yet. The young girl — the youngest of her group — waited impatiently in her seat for her friend's name to be called by the MC.

'Number 44, Alana, with Star Mero Mero Heart.'

Shusmeetha shot straight up in her seat. Alana? With a song that had a name like 'Star Mero Mero Heart'? The dark haired girl had a bad feeling about that, and she half-expected the competitor to be dressed like one of the Winged Ones.

Alana defied all those expectations, though she was certainly dressed in a weird manner, with a dull green bird hoodie that had wings for sleeves and a beak on the hood. She was also wearing shorts, and dark green sneakers. She was holding the microphone provided in her hand, and was twirling it like it was a baton. Luckily for her, it was wireless and turned off at the moment, or else the cords would have gotten all tangled up, and the sound would have been awful.

Shusmeetha shrank in her seat, she had a_ very_ bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. The girl's necklace faintly glowed in accordance to her distress, but no one noticed it, luckily for her. From beside her, she could hear Lavhanya muttering about how the girl was 'stealing her colour', pouting from her seat as she crossed her arms over her chest.

At her other side, her trusty older sister seemed to notice her distress, and her hand gently clapped down onto the younger girl's shoulder. Lavena leaner closer to her, and whispered, 'I don't like this. There's something… off, about that girl.'

Shusmeetha nodded, her eyes darting to look at the entrance to backstage, where she could see Shu Qing's head poking out and frowning deeply at the competitor. The music started, and Shu Qing quickly disappeared. However, at the same time, all five of the girls in the audience flinched and put their hands over their ears.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Shu Qing was nervously pacing before it was her turn to compete. She had never been in front of such a large crowd before, and it certainly didn't help her nerves that her friends were there too, because she didn't want them to see her mess up.

She cleared her throat and tried her song again.

_The white clouds in the blue sky slowly float away_

_Vanishing, as they near the rainbow's end_

Then, she paused. Shu Qing panicked. Of all times, she had chosen then to forget the lyrics! She continued pacing nervously.

_My loving kiss excites your pumping heart!_

_Ah~…as I thought…You Love Only Me~_

_If I can waive the Baton of Stars_

_I would want to make you fall in a trance!_

Shu Qing tensed at the song, freezing in place and chancing a glance outside. Her ears hurt, and she flinched at the noise. Wasn't that Alala? But when she looked out, she didn't see the winged girl, only a girl in a green bird hoodie. _Odd,_ Shu Qing frowned. _I could've sworn I heard her voice…_

_With the shape hidden under the shadow of the green leaves_

_I made and created a lot of me's_

_Let us all show our cute side right now!_

_Your __beautiful __rose coloured eyes are now shaking right?_

_Look at me once again…because I will only smile to you!_

_You should only know things about me_

_You should only listen to what I say_

_Even my impossible demands~!_

'Gah!' Shu Qing shrieked in the softest voice possible. That _was_ Alala's voice all right, but where was she? The dark blue-haired girl winced and pulled away from the entrance to the stage. This was one time that she really wanted Zhi Hui to be there, despite having a slight dislike for the older girl due to her blunt manner and distaste for pink. Because, who could hate pink? It was the best colour yet!

_My cute voice excites your pumping heart!_

_Ah~…as I thought, you are attracted to me~_

_You only listen to my selfishness,_

_But you should be happy~!_

Shu Qing heard a round of loud applause, and the MC announcing her name and number, and she blinked, realizing that it was her turn. Swallowing nervously, she left the backstage and headed towards the stage.

The girl stood on the stage only a minute later, and already Shu Qing felt nervous. Her palms were sweaty and her eyes darted from one person in the crowd to another. She swallowed, pushing back her nerves as she started to sing.

_The white clouds in the blue sky slowly float away_

Shu Qing paused as she finished the first line, and panic overtook her. She had forgotten the next line to the song! She paled dramatically. Searching for the lyrics, her eyes darted over the crowd to find her friends. _Come on… come on!_

No one spoke in the crowd, then suddenly, a name started echoing in the place. 'Alana! We want Alana back!' the crowd chorused as one. 'Alana! Alana!'

Shu Qing's eyes finally locked on her friends, who were glaring at Alana, the girl having sashayed her way back onto stage. Alana smirked arrogantly at her and shoved her back. Shu Qing yelped, stumbling over her feet as she moved back a couple of steps.

Alana looked at her disdainfully and snickered, snatching the microphone from her hands. She suddenly launched herself into the air, and with a magnificent burst of green light, transformed into the winged demon, Alala. Alala spun her baton-like microphone in her hand, and called out. 'Mermaids, come out now! I want the Pink Pearl!'

None of the mermaids responded, all remaining silent. Shu Qing stared up at Alala, who was twirling her baton lazily. 'Oh come on,' she muttered to herself. 'Why can't I just have a normal competition for once?'

'Are you coming out or not, mermaids?' Alala lazily demanded, landing on the stage again. 'No?' she inquired to the empty air. 'Oh well, it doesn't matter. This crowd will hunt you out sure enough.' Twirling the baton again, she finally pointed the end at the crowd as she started to sing again.

_My loving gaze excites your pumping heart!_

_Ah~…I knew it…you are nailed down by my gaze~_

_With the melody that you hummed_

_I want to make you fall in love with me!_

Shu Qing screamed, her hands clapping over her ears, as did the five girls in the crowd. 'Stop!' she yelled at Alala, who was disinterestedly scanning the crowd. The dragonfly demon didn't seem to hear her though, and continued to sing her song while twirling her baton, sending golden stars flying through the air.

The dark blue-haired girl shakily got to her feet with her hands over her ears as she forced her way up to Alala. With all the force she could muster, Shu Qing shoved Alala off the stage, instantly cutting the song short. The demon yelped as she smashed face-first into a crowd.

'Why you — ' Alala's words were cut off by the crowd surrounding her and chanting in a hypnotized tone, 'We love Alana! Alana! Alana!'

Shu Qing looked up to see her friends smiling brightly at her as they got to their feet. She looked at Lavena in particular, who was pointing at something by her feet. The mermaid looked down, seeing the microphone roll by her feet, and picked it up. Looking back at her friends, she mouthed to them, 'what am I supposed to do?'

Shusmeetha made the motion for 'Pichi Pichi Pitch' with her hand, that was, throwing her hand out in an outstretched motion, while Lavhanya was mimicking dancing to a beat. Yi Phing and Lavena, on the other hand were making frantic points to the microphone.

Shu Qing looked at microphone warily, but she brought it up anyway, and she started singing the first words that came to mind — the Japanese version of Legend of Mermaid.

_Nanairo no kaze ni fukarete_

_Tooi misaki wo mezashiteta_

She could see the crowd slowly going back to the way they were before Alala had started singing. Murmurs of 'pop idol?' had started spreading in the crowd, but Shu Qing found that she could now remember all the lyrics to her song, surprisingly so, as she had forgotten all of them barely a couple of minute ago.

_Yoake mae kikoeta MERODII_

_Sore wa totemo natsukshii uta_

By the time she finished this verse, Alala had regained her bearings, and was now hovering in the air with her arms crossed over her chest. 'Found you, mermaid!' she yelled, pointing her baton at Shu Qing, who backed up a little. Suddenly, a bright burst of light shot out from Shu Qing, and Alala as well as everyone else had to shield their eyes to avoid getting blinded.

_Well done, child. _A voice spoke to Shu Qing, and she had to look around to see if there was anyone there._ Conquering a fear is never easy, and you might not have conquered it for good, but I feel you have earned this. Take it, your pearl. The pearl of frost and ice._

Shu Qing's eyes lit up, and she looked down, seeing a blue glow in the shape of the shell necklace the others all wore appear around her neck. The blinding light that it emitted died down just a little, and it was just enough for her to see the dark blue necklace that rested on her collarbone. A bright grin spread over her face, and she raised her free hand to clasp the locket.

Knowing what to do, she raised her head and brought the hand that held the microphone into the air, yelling out the three words that belonged to her transformation phrase. 'Frost Pearl Voice!'

The light that covered her turned a bright, icy blue, and her hair flowed down to her feet, turning a dark azure. Her hair style was also replicated with the 'sugar cane' styled ponytail, and blue lights appeared on her head, forming a headband. Blue light shifted over her body, feeling oddly like ice, and then shattering to reveal her new dress.

She held out each hand, and the light covered her up to her arms. She brought them in, passed them over each other in front of her chest once, and again, upon which it shattered, leaving her gloves in its place. She flung her right arm out, and the light covered it before shattering into a cut-off sleeve. Light appeared on her feet, and clapping her heels together, her boots formed.

Her microphone fell into her outstretched hand, and twirling the microphone in her left hand, she assumed Sailor Moon's iconic position, winking. 'I am the pretty Idol Soldier of Cool Justice, and on behalf of the seven seas, I'll show you what's what!'

Looking down at herself, she noted that her hair was a much lighter shade than it originally was, now a lovely dark blue-indigo mix. There was a blue pearl headband in her hair. Her outfit mirrored Shu Ting's, she noticed, having the cut off sleeve on the right while the brunette had hers on the left, and her short sleeve was also on the left, whereas the other had hers on the right, as were the gloves.

Her dress was deep blue, and the skirt was a couple of shades lighter. Her gloves were ice blue, and her boots were the same colours as the rest of her outfit. Somehow, she knew that her eyes were also a light blue as well.

Seeing Alala about to start singing again, Shu Qing brought her microphone up. 'Pichi Pichi Pitch, Live Start!'

_I once had a dream_

_While waiting for a miracle to come find me_

_Is it whimsy to kiss for just a moment?_

_Hey, saying "sorry" just isn't fair!_

Alala started screaming, and the crowd did the exact opposite, cheering louder and louder. Shu Qing felt a swell of pride in her heart when she saw her friends leading the crowd to cheer for her.

_I'm still not going to just_

_Talk about all the things that I don't like_

_Side by side, let us look at the sky again_

_The one chance we'll ever have is now!_

She threw her hand out to the crowd, and the cheering intensified for her. Alala, on the other hand, was screaming in pain as her wings were buzzing like a fly trying to escape from honey. Where Shu Qing got the sometimes weird idioms she used, she never knew.

_When I see our fingers intertwined together_

_Don't you dare decide to say goodbye alone by yourself_

_Here we go!_

_With a brand new 'us', we'll be able to do better than before_

_The strength we have of believing in today_

_Let us use it to change destiny_

She Qing switched from one foot to another, keeping with the rhythm of her upbeat song. She was really enjoying the feeling of transforming. Now that she had her pearl, she mentally made a note to transform more often. It felt really good to sing without having stage fright, especially in front of a large crowd like this.

_Here we go!_

_Not being able to say 'I love you!'_

_I held on to you tightly inside of my heart_

_All of the endless sunsets I've watched from so far off I can't see_

_I want to give it all to you_

_I love you_

'How about an encore?' she teased as Alala screamed in frustration. The crowd positively went wild, and cheers came from her five friends. Her smile just widened as she left the stage, releasing her transformation in a shower of blue sparkles. Bouncing on her heels, Shu Qing went off-stage.

She just_ knew_ she was going to win.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lavena hummed her song under her breath in a jaunty tone as the six girls walked along Lake Garden, giggling and laughing as they did so. No one had been surprised when Shu Qing had been announced as the winner, especially not the other five girls, who had already anticipated it. The best thing about it, though, was that all of the girls now had their pearls, and now, they could sing as a team.

She skipped slightly as she walked, Shu Ting and Shu Qing right behind her, and still giggling and talking about Shu Qing's trophy. As she looked in front though, she saw Lucia and Gaito walking along the same path, silent, until Gaito began to talk. She couldn't hear anything, but it seemed quite serious, for Lucia's expression was simply neutral, and the brunette usually had a smile on her face all the time.

'Lucia-nee!' shouted all the girls together before she could stop them.

Lavena simply frowned at them, but she walked up to the two as the girls did, though not running, which in her sandals, would be rather unwise. 'Well,' Lavena spoke to herself. 'This is a coincidence.' Watching as Shu Qing excitedly and proudly showed her pearl to Lucia, Lavena saw Lucia smile in pride and ruffle Shu Qing's hair.

Out of the corner of her eye, though, the teen saw Gaito frown a bit, as if he was disappointed. 'So, Lucia,' he started, sounding somewhat disappointed. 'I guess this is it for today?'

Lavena had a sneaking suspicion of why he sounded reluctant, and she was positive that Zhi Hui would have seen it too. Hiding her grin, she looked over to Lucia, who was smiling and nodding as Shu Qing talked about her day.

'Huh?' Lucia murmured, almost absently wording her sentence. After a while, she seemed to register what he had said and flushed red. 'Oh yes! I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention.' She paused in her sentence and looked at the girls. 'I guess I'll be leaving with the girls then. I'll see you tomorrow?

Considering that the day after was a Monday, Lavena guessed that it was probably their best bet.

'Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow,' the man affirmed, and with a quick nod of acknowledgement towards the girls, he turned and left. Lavena saw him using his phone though, and not a minute later, Lucia's phone rang with the notifications alarm.

Lavena _knew_ what it was, this time around, and she couldn't help but grin. Luckily for her, only Yi Phing caught her expression, and the other girl was unlikely to spill.

At approximately nine and a half at night, around three to four hours later, Lavena was wrapping up the last few pages of her worksheet. Editing one of her answers, written in mechanical pencil, which she would rewrite at school the next day, the purple-haired teen finally decided to call it a day.

It was one of those rare days when the girls all slept over at one house, this time being Lavena and Shusmeetha's. Lucia was in the living room, still going over some parts of her lesson the next day with the television switched off. The girls had already gone up to their temporary rooms, with Shu Ting, Shu Qing and Lavhanya sharing Shusmeetha's room while Yi Phing and Shusmeetha herself slept in Lavena's bedroom.

Lavena packed up all her stationery, and carefully marked down the pages of her workbook so she could get them tomorrow. The girl shoved her books into her bag, and moved to the staircase to get to her bedroom, already in her dark pink and purple floral themed pyjamas. As she ascended the stairs, a thought occurred to her, and she paused in her steps.

'_Nee…_ Lucia-nee,' she called out, drawing the brunette mermaid's attention.

'Yes, Lavena?' Lucia asked, looking at her with a soft, gentle smile.

'Do you… have feelings for… him?' Lavena asked nervously, not mentioning a name on purpose.

Lucia fell silent for a while, and her face flushed a faint red. 'You mean Gaito?' Not looking at her to see her response, the teacher hummed softly under her breath for a while, long enough to make Lavena think that she wasn't getting any answers that night.

As Lavena moved to head to her room, Lucia finally responded. 'Yes.' Lavena was unable to keep her grin off her face for the rest of the night, even while she was asleep.

_End Chapter_

* * *

Wow... these chapters are getting _shorter_. Maybe I should just Demote Zhi Hui To Extra and give the girls their limelight.

No preview this time, mainly because the next chapter is a little filler and mainly to give a little insight on how the characters carry about their lives on important occasions and festivals. Most of the specials (there are six, by the way) will mostly be about things in Malaysia, but a couple of them, like the third and sixth, will mark important occasions in the plot, plus, I get to portray what I know, so yay!

The first special will be up in April, somewhere around the tenth, perhaps, so it coincides with the Qingming Festival, which is what will be in said chapter. I hope you guys look forward to it.


	12. Special 1: Qingming Festival

I'm back! And I lied, but who cares? I'm back! So here we have the first Special. The first part, in bold, is basically just a piece of exposition. Hit Ctrl+F and type 'Special 1: Qingming Festival' if you don't want to read it. Anyway, this is basically just a short, filler-like chapter. Enjoy.

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

**Stories/Tales**

* * *

_Special 1：清明_

'**Qingming' is the name of the 5****th**** solar term of the traditional East Asian lunisolar calendar, which divides a year into twenty-four solar terms. The solar term begins when the sun reaches the celestial longitude of fifteen degrees (****15°)**** and ends when it reaches the longitude of thirty degrees (****30°), though Qingming more often refers to the day when the sun is at the exact celestial longitude of 15°. In the Gregorian calendar, Qingming usually begins around the fourth or fifth or April and ends around the twentieth of April, which is when the Qingming Festival also happens.**

**The Qingming Festival, otherwise known as 'Ancestor's Day' or 'Chinese Memorial Day' is when Chinese people visit the columbarium, gravesites, or burial grounds to pray and give offerings to their ancestors.**

**The Qingming Festival is an opportunity for celebrants to remember and honour their ancestors at their grave sites. Both the young and old pray to the ancestors, sweep and tidy up the tombs and offer food and drink, chopsticks, joss paper accessories and or libations to the ancestors. The rites have a long tradition in Asia, especially amongst farmers. **

**On Qingming, some people carry willow branches with them or put them on their gates. They believe that doing so helps to ward off evil spirits that wander on Qingming. **

**During the duration of Qingming, people go on family outings, start the spring ploughing, as well as sing and dance. Another popular thing to do during this time is to fly kites in the shape of animals or characters from Chinese opera. ****Another common practice is to carry flowers instead of burning paper, incense, or firecrackers.****Other than that, Qingming is also the time when young couples traditionally start courting.**

**The overseas Chinese communities in South East Asia, most prominently those in Singapore and Malaysia, take this festival very seriously and observe its traditions faithfully. Some Qingming rituals and the ancestral veneration decorum observed by the communities in Malaysia and Singapore can be dated back to the Ming and Qing dynasties of China, as the communities were not affected by the Cultural Revolution that took place in Mainland China.**

**In Malaysia specifically, Qingming is an elaborate family function or a clan feast, which is usually organized by the respective clan association, both commemorate as well as honour recently deceased relatives at their grave sites and their distant ancestors from China at temples or altars at home. The festival is very much a family celebration as well as a familial obligation at the same time. The people see this festival as a time of reflection and to honour and give thanks to their forefathers.**

**The Chinese community normally visit the graves of their deceased relatives on the nearest weekend to the actual date, due to the fact that grave site veneration is only feasible ten days before and after the Qingming Festival, according to the ancient custom. However, if the visit is not on the actual date of the festival, veneration before Qingming is usually encouraged instead of after.**

**For the celebrations in Malaysia and Singapore, the festival usually starts early in the morning by paying respects to the distant ancestors from China at home altars. This is followed by visiting the graves of close relatives. Normally, this is only done to the relatives in the country, but some follow the concept of filial piety to the extent of visiting the graves of their ancestors in Mainland China.**

**Traditionally, the family will burn spirit money and paper replicas of material goods such as cars, homes, phones and paper servants. In Chinese culture, it is believed that people still need those things in the afterlife. Following that, the family members will take turns to **_**'kowtow'**_** three to nine times, depending on the family's adherence to traditional values before their ancestors' tombs. The Kowtowing ritual in front of the grave is performed in the order of patriarchal seniority within the family. ****After the ancestor worship at the grave site, the whole family or the whole clan feast on the food and drink they brought for the worship either at the site or in nearby gardens in the memorial park, signifying family reunion with the ancestors.**

_**Special 1: Qingming Festival**_

Gaito sighed in irritation as he finally lifted his pen from the sheet of paper. The school had requested each teacher write a short essay on a festival in either English or Malay, in hopes of 'inspiring the students to learn their languages properly and not goof off in class. He personally thought that if the school management wanted the students to stop acting like the children that they were, the teachers should be stricter.

Ah well_,_ he supposed. If all four of the school's headmistresses, vice or otherwise, decided that the teachers needed to motivate the students by this method, he wasn't in any position to complain anyway. Also, it gave him a wonderful reason to make his students write essays. Baring one of his signature grins, he set the pen aside and allowed himself to chuckle.

_Why do they complain, anyway?_ The teacher asked himself. _All they have to do is write two essays. I have to read and grade all of them, which altogether, is eighty-eight essays._ Shaking his head in resignation, he went over the essay, written in his clear, easy-to-recognize script, a couple of times before he placed it on his desk, finally satisfied with his work.

His phone rang at that exact moment.

Not giving it a glance, he picked it up and answered the call. 'Hello?' Almost instantly, he recognized the voice that spoke.

'Gaito! Thank Aqua Regina, I've been trying to get a hold of you for ages.'

The Panthalassan felt the edge of his mouth quirk into a small smile as he reclined in his chair. Chuckling amusedly, he noted that he had probably been too engrossed in his writing to notice his phone, which, at the time had also been set to vibration mode. 'My apologies, Lucia,' he stated, smiling, even though he knew she couldn't see it. 'I got a little caught up. What's the matter?'

'It's actually about the other day,' Lucia spoke, making Gaito raise a brow. What other day? 'You know… I think it'd probably be better if I came over to talk.'

'Uh, sure Lucia.' Gaito checked the clock that hung on the wall, noting that it was already well past ten and almost eleven. 'But how about tomorrow instead? It's late, and we need our sleep. Besides,' he added. 'Zhi Hui will probably be out for most of tomorrow.'

'Okay. Tomorrow it is.' Gaito swore he heard her yawn softly at this point. 'Goodnight, then.'

He chuckled lightly at her. 'Goodnight, Lucia. I'll see you tomorrow.' Ending the call, he switched off his phone, and as per his routine, headed over to Zhi Hui's room to check on her, as he had been doing ever since he had started the role of her guardian.

As he had predicted, the girl was fast asleep, not surprising considering she went to bed at nine sharp. Smiling softly, he shut the door and returned to his own room, silently wishing his ward a good night's rest.

_**Special 1: Qingming Festival**_

Most would be surprised to know that fact that Shu Ting and Shu Qing were not, in fact fraternal twins, despite their similar names. They would be even more surprised to know that the two were, in fact, distant cousins from their fathers' sides. Of course, one fact that that no one could understood was the almost psychic connection that they had was simply just a result knowing each other since the crib.

Well, that, and the fact that they both shared a very special destiny with five other girls. Yeah… the last part, however true it may have been, sounded very much cliché and story-worthy. It was true, though.

It was also why they were both waiting at Shu Ting's house very early in the morning, enjoying a simple breakfast of biscuits and a warm Milo drink before they headed out on the day of the Qingming Festival. Both their younger sisters were still asleep, though Shu Qing's sister Shu Yi was coming with them, as she was already seven. Shu Qi, on the other hand, was Shu Ting's sister, and a mere five years old, which was part of the reason why she was still asleep in her room.

'So,' Shu Qing started as she dipped her biscuit in her drink. 'You ready for this year?'

Shu Ting shrugged, tossing her brown hair out of her eyes as she absent-mindedly stirred her drink with a spoon. The girl yawn tiredly, stretching her arms and rubbing her eyes. 'I don't know,' she mumbled, raising her mug to drink the rest of her Milo. 'Why do we need to get up so early anyway?' she complained.

'We get up early because that's the best time to go to the cemetery,' Shu Ting's mother answered from behind the both of them, her hair a dark, tousled blond tied into a high ponytail. Unlike her daughter, the woman could pass her hair off as being dyed while Shu Ting, still a student, could not, so it was fairly luck that Shu Ting's hair was dark brunette instead of the bleached blonde her mother was.

'You don't want to have to do your work under the blazing sun at noon, do you?' Shu Qing's mother then asked. The woman had deep, inky purple hair in contrast to her daughter's deep blue. She smiled at her daughter's pout and said, 'Cheer up, dear. It'll be over before you know it. You and Shu Ting always have so much fun afterwards.'

Shu Qing blew out her cheeks, a pout still firmly on her face. 'But I'm still sleepy,' she protested. 'And Shu Yi gets to sleep until six! Why do I need to be awake at five thirty?'

Shu Ting's long, drawn out yawn from beside her reminded the dark blue-haired girl that the brunette was also suffering the same fate. The other girl, slightly older by just a few days, pushed her mug aside and lay her head down on the table, using her arms as pillows, getting ready to nod off.

'Shu Yi is barely seven,' Shu Qing's mother reminded her daughter. 'Cheer up, sweetheart,' she added with a smile. 'I'll let you sleep-over with the rest of the girls here,' she offered with a chuckle.

'Really?' Shu Qing asked, perking right up as her eyes sparkled. Anyone could see the gears turning in her head, already planning on how she would organize a small party for the group of six girls.

From beside her, Shu Ting muttered something sleepily and continued to drift off into dreamland.

Shu Qing giggled, poking her friend with a finger.

_**Special 1: Qingming Festival**_

Shu Ting yawned lazily as she hiked down the dirt road to the cemetery, stretching as Shu Qing walked beside her, speaking in a rapid-fire manner on the games she had planned for the night. 'Could you make the bedtime earlier?' she grumbled, half-jokingly. 'Cause I _really_ need to get some shut eye before I fall asleep.'

Shu Qing harrumphed. 'You're like this every year,' she complained, folding her arms over her chest. 'Can't you just get used to it, Ting?'

'Nope,' Shu Ting mumbled, sullen.

Shu Qing pouted in response.

As the two girls got to Shu Qing's mother's car, Shu Qing reached to unlock the car with the key. As she swung the door to the backseat open, a buzzing sounded from beneath the pillows on the seat. 'Hey, Ting,' the girl called, leaning in and picking up a phone from beneath the pillows. 'This is yours, right?'

'Right,' Shu Ting agreed, snatching over her phone from the other girl and sticking out her tongue in a very childish way. She fumbled for a while and hit the 'answer' button. 'Hello?'

'Shu Ting!' two voices called out in unison. It was Lavhanya and Shusmeetha, the two youngest of their group. 'You're not here yet!' whined Lavhanya.

'You promised you'd be here by ten!' Shusmeetha added.

Shu Ting looked up at Shu Qing, and both girls winced in unison, showing yet again the unique connection the girls had. 'Uhm…' the brunette mumbled, looking to Shu Qing.

'We got held up!' the blue-haired girl blurted out. 'Yeah, that's right! We just got held up, uh, in traffic!'

Shu Ting caught onto her friend's story in seconds, and quickly added onto it. 'Yeah! Qing's right! We're stuck in a _really_ bad traffic jam!'

Another voice suddenly came onto the line, startling the two. 'You two are horrible liars.' Zhi Hui's dry tone sounded vaguely amused. 'Don't worry, I turned off the speakerphone.' There was a sound from the other end, most likely the older girl laughing at them, before her voice returned. 'Qingming takes a long time. You probably shouldn't have promised that.'

'Yeah,' Shu Qing mumbled. 'I know.'

Zhi Hui snorted. 'Either way, you should know Lucia-sama is over at my house for now. You're stuck with me until evening, because I promised Gaito-sama I'd be out for the rest of the day.'

Shu Ting made a face but she didn't speak. Shu Qing, instead did. 'Oh,' she mumbled. 'We're heading back soon,' she continued, glancing over her shoulder and seeing their mothers walk to the car, laughing and talking on the way.

Zhi Hui made a sound that basically said 'I don't really car'. 'Just get back soon. I'm not dealing with a pair of hyperactive girls for longer than I have to. That's your problem, not mine.'

Shu Ting looked at Shu Qing and mouthed, 'meetha and Lav?'

The other girl just shrugged. 'They're not our problem either,' she pointed out. 'It's Yi Phing and 'vena that you should tell.'

'I don't care,' Zhi Hui stated quite plainly, and the older girl's abrasiveness was kind of making the brunette annoyed. 'They're from your group, so it's all the same to me. I don't have the group dynamic that you have,' she finished, her tone dry.

'Group what?' Shu Qing mumbled, though it was obvious that Zhi Hui had ignored her.

'Anyway, they're expecting you back soon. May the gods above help you if you're late.' The older girl was mocking them, Shu Ting realized a couple of seconds later with a scowl. 'Lavena wants to talk to you two, by the way.'

A brief pause later, Lavena's voice came through. 'Hey you two,' the oldest of the six girls said to them. 'Don't mind her. She's really blunt and rude. I don't even know why we have to work with her.' The girl sounded like she was sulking. 'But never mind. As long as we have each other, those demons don't stand a chance!' She paused for a bit. 'Oh, and we're at Taiping Sentral. McDonalds. You can't miss us.'

'Kay,' Shu Ting mumbled. 'We'll be there in a second.' Shu Qing's look from beside her made the girl amend, 'Sorry, a couple of minutes. Or two.'

'Or ten,' Shu Qing added cheerfully.

'Wait what?'

'Alright. Bye.' Shu Ting hit the 'end call' button, glowering at Shu Qing and pouting at her friend. 'Qing!' she whined as the two mermaids approached from behind them.

'McDonalds, was it?' Shu Qing's mother asked.

Shu Ting and Shu Qing looked at each other and muttered in unison, 'Um, yeah.'

_**Special 1: Qingming Festival**_

Shu Ting and Shu Qing walked into the air-conditioned fast food restaurant together, the former yawning while the latter searched for their friends. When Shu Qing found them, though, the dark blue haired girl instantly dragged her brunette friend over to the table. Shusmeetha and Lavhanya were using Lavena's phone and were playing a game with the earphones plugged in. Yi Phing was using her own phone and looked like she was on Facebook or something. Lavena and Zhi Hui, on the other hand, were at the side, talking about… well, something, at the very least.

The younger girl of the two was standing with her arms crossed, a brow raised but with an otherwise neutral expression. Lavena, on the other hand, looked irritated as she talked to her. Perhaps they were talking about school work? No, that was unlikely.

Then, Lavena's brows rose, her eyes widening. Zhi Hui, on the other hand, was grinning at her. She spoke again, and Lavena scowled at her. Zhi Hui shrugged and then pointed to Shu Ting and Shu Qing as they took a seat beside Yi Phing. 'And you might want to keep them away. It's a dangerous period of time, if you know what I mean.' Zhi Hui was snickering as she said that.

Lavena scowled at her. 'You've got to be kidding me.'

'I don't kid, sweetheart.' Sarcasm was dripping from the affectionate term. 'Look, those two are here, so you have something to do now. You were the one who brought it up though, so it's not my fault.' With that said, the girl walked out of the place with her hands in her pockets.

Shu Qing and Shu Ting both stared out after the girl. They blinked, and looked at each other, then blinked again. 'Well,' Shu Qing commented. 'That was rude.'

'Ugh,' Lavena muttered. 'Tell me about it.'

'So,' Yi Phing cut in, a smile on her face. 'How was your day?'

'Horrible,' grumbled Shu Ting. 'I hate Qingming.' With a yawn, she rested her head in her arms, her eyes closing as she started to doze off.

The rest of the girls just giggled at her predicament.

_End Special_

* * *

Poor Shu Ting. Well, not really - I just like to have someone grumpy sometimes. Anyway, next chapter will be the first of the second arc, this one marking the end of the first, the 'Pearl Arc', as I call it. I hope you're looking forward to it.


	13. Chapter 11: A Normal Day

One thing I'd like to address before we go on with the story: Look, if you guys don't like the story, it's fine. I'm not offended. But please, don't submit troll reviews to me. It really does a number on my confidence when that happens.

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

**Notes/Stories**

* * *

_Chapter 11: A Normal Day_

Shusmeetha huffed as she heaved her bag over her shoulder. 'This is heavy,' she complained with a pout to Lavhanya, who was jogging up the stairs without complaint. The slightly younger girl pulled her bag as she hastened after the other, grabbing at the railing as she barely managed to catch up to the more athletic girl. 'Come _on_, Lav,' she whined.

Lavhanya glanced at her and made a face. 'My bag is heavy too,' she pointed out. 'And we're only on the third floor, remember?' She held her hands behind her head and walked up easily as she looked to her side at Shusmeetha. 'I mean, Lavena was on the fourth floor last year, wasn't she?' she asked, nodding her head towards the building opposite the one they were in right now, illuminated in the pre-dawn darkness with fluorescent lights.

'Yeah,' Shusmeetha agreed. 'Class 6K.' The second class of the Year Six students was actually 6 Kuning, but no one used the full name anyway, preferring to use the shortcut name. It was the same with the other three, or four, in her case, classes.

The classes went M, K, B, H, and sometimes, J, which stood for Merah, Kuning, Biru, Hijau and Jingga respectively. And those names respectively meant 'red, yellow, blue, green and orange'. Considering the school used coloured nametags to determine a student's age, it was appropriate enough.

'Say, Lav?' Shusmeetha said. 'What do you think the others are doing right now?' She huffed a bit as she widened her stride and hastened to catch up to her friend. 'Hey!' she protested. 'Wait up!'

The taller of the two shrugged. 'Beats me,' she replied, finally getting onto the third floor. She turned around, leaning on the wall as she waited patiently for Shusmeetha to reach her. 'Come on, slowpoke,' she teased, glancing at her deep green watch. 'We're going to be late.'

Shusmeetha huffed, reaching her friend's side and lightly elbowing her. 'I'm not that slow,' she protested. 'I'm just not as athletic as you are.'

'Which means you're slow,' Lavhanya cheerfully translated, entering their classroom and tossing her bag onto the desk near the wall. The Indian girl snickered as she pulled out her chair, placing her bag on the back and lounging carelessly on the wooden furniture. 'I mean, come on, 'meetha. Your last eighty-metre run took you nearly thirty seconds!'

'Shu Ting and Shu Qing barely made it out of the thirty second range too!' the dark orange-haired girl retorted as she dumped her bag in her own seat. 'And I have short legs!'

Lavhanya laughed. 'Oh please, 'meetha. They were running a hundred metres!'

The girl opened her mouth to retort yet again to her taller friend, but she was rudely interrupted by the first bell of the day ringing. She pouted in response as Lavhanya blew a raspberry at her from the side of the room. Mumbling to herself about 'stupid P.E. classes', the girl stood with the other students as the teacher entered.

She shot Lavhanya a half-hearted glance as the teacher told them to sit, absently wondering to herself about what the others were doing at the moment.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Lavena sat at her desk in her classroom, the secondary school student hastily checking her homework for any half-done questions, knowing very well that her Maths teacher was someone who wanted their homework to be all on the teacher's desk by the time the middle-aged woman walked in. She looked over a question with a frown — she hadn't understood it the day before and had just done it in a very quick, but lazy way. _The lowest common multiple is… uh…_ She scowled as she pulled out a mechanical pencil to circle the number.

She sighed; Maths had never really been her strongest subject. The teenager tapped her mechanical pencil on the edge of the page, making a face of irritation at the problems laid out on the page. Throwing her hands up in the air and quickly giving up with the questions, she closed the workbook and then she handed it to the male student that sat in front of her.

The dark purple-haired girl muttered something about the 'devil that was the teacher' as she tossed her pencil into the pale purple and pink pencil box and zipped it up before quickly shoving it into the drawer of the wooden desk. She checked her watch, noting that there was only a minute left before the bell that officially started the school day rang.

Leaning back in her chair, she blocked out the loud chatter of her classmates, comfortably staring around her class. At the other end of the room, her two human friends waved briefly at her, and the girl raised her hand in acknowledgement to the duo. One of the two made to walk over, but at that moment, the bell rang, loud and shrill.

Lavena didn't know how she wasn't deaf yet, considering her classroom was right next to the bell's placement. Then again, it was only early May. The bell had over half a year to continue to make her lose her hearing early.

The girl sat up straight, checking her watch again. _Cikgu Ng always comes in a couple of seconds after the bell, so…_ Her dark brown eyes lifted up from her spot in the left centre of the class and headed over to the wooden doors.

Exactly on cue, the middle-aged woman walked right through the doors and put her books down on the teacher's desk, where a stack of red workbooks lay expectantly. The woman gave the books a quick glance and set down the cane she carried with her. After bidding the students sit after the greeting, she went straight for the whiteboard, her usual green marker in hand.

Lavena groaned when she saw what the woman was writing on the whiteboard — not fractions again! The teenager put her head in her hands and sighed, glaring moodily at the multiple numbers written all over the whiteboard.

'_Keluarkan buku latihan sekarang,'_ (Take out your exercise books now) the woman said, her voice strict as always. _'Buat latihan ini dalam buku. Sepuluh minit cukup buat tak?'_ (Do the exercise in the book. Is ten minutes enough to do it?)

A collective groan rose from the students, except for the two smartest students in the class, who both cheerfully replied with a positive and got to work.

After a couple of minutes of negotiation with the stern teacher, the rest of the class got an additional five minutes to finish the thirty question exercise. Lavena slumped in relief. She wasn't sure she could finish the exercise even with fifteen minutes on her side, but the girl certainly wasn't complaining about the additional five minutes to work with.

As she started on the first question, she absently wondered to herself, _What are the girls doing right now?_

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Shu Ting took the crumpled piece of lined paper from her friend's hand, quickly unraveling the paper to show the message. She looked at the teacher, a young woman in her late twenties, who was standing in front of the screen with a laser-pointer directed at the whiteboard serving as a projector screen.

The screen was currently filled with senseless information that the brunette didn't manage to process in time as the woman switched the slide to the following one, rattling off about… well, things, she supposed. The girl was vaguely aware that she had a Science period, and that the teacher was covering acid and alkaline, but she really hated Science.

She ducked her line of sight down to the slip of crumpled paper, reading the message scrawled in Shu Qing's somewhat untidy writing.

**I'm bored, Ting. **

The message was written in hiragana and some simply kanji. Snorting, Shu Ting grabbed her mechanical pencil from the side of her book and using the same way, she wrote underneath it:** Then stop talking to me and listen to the teacher.**

She crumpled it up again and passed it to Shu Qing, sitting in the row next to hers. Unfortunately, although the duo were sitting close together, there was a gap in between the two rows of desks, meant as a walkway for the teacher. A couple of minutes later, the paper was handed back to her.

_**You **_**don't.**

Shu Ting frowned and looked back at her blue-haired friend, who was staring at the makeshift projector screen with a frown. She got the feeling that the first word was purposely written in flamboyant red Sharpie for a reason — namely to prove Shu Qing's point. As she glanced at her friend, the girl stuck out her tongue at the brunette, as if to say 'I was right, wasn't I?' to her.

She scrunched up her nose with a mock scowl on her face, and returned to writing on the piece of paper, now covered in both her and Shu Qing's unique and easily identifiable scrawling, which was _definitely_ readable. She didn't know why Lucia and Lavena called it 'illegible' when they checked the two girls' homework.

'Ahem.'

Shu Ting paused in the middle of passing her note to Shu Qing, wincing as she realized her teacher was standing right in between the two with a hand on her desk and the other holding the cane. She looked with a nervous chuckle. _Dang it…_ she thought, sweat dropping.

'传纸条啊，你们？' (Are the two of you passing notes?) the teacher asked sternly.

Lost on what to say for the moment, both girls looked at each other, silently agreeing on their next course of action, before chorusing in unison to the teacher, '没有，老师。' (No, teacher)

The teacher plucked the paper from Shu Ting's hand and read it. Well, she _tried_ to do so, at least, considering the way she frowned when she saw the scrawl on the lined paper. Finally, the teacher sighed and took the paper with her as she turned back to her lesson, muttering something under her breath about 'illegible writing'.

Shu Ting scowled, even as she and Shu Qing relaxed with a sigh when the teacher didn't punish them. The brunette reached for a new piece of paper, and wrote to Shu Qing, **Is our writing really illegible?** She underlined the second to last word, and passed it to her friend.

**Beats me. What do you think the others are doing right now?** was the reply.

Shu Ting shrugged.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch**_

' "_Kata orang tua itu, 'Pergilah kamu ke pasar, Ali.' " '_ (Said the old person, 'Go to the market, Ali) Yi Phing droned on as the rest of the students in 6B continued to read out the passage. She stopped in the middle of the passage to catch her breath. In hindsight, it was incredibly stupid of her to attempt to read an entire passage while only taking a breath after each sentence.

The dark-haired girl made a face and reached for her water bottle, quickly downing a gulp of water just as the rest of the class finished the passage. She hastily joined the other students, finishing the text in her worn textbook while she lazily drummed her fingers on her desk. With a sigh, she finished the length of the considerably long and rambling story, picking up her mechanical pencil at the end as she rattled off the last few words.

The girl sketched an obscure image on her textbook, not really sure what she was doodling, but it took on the form of an amateurishly drawn picture of a girl in a stylized sailor uniform. Yi Phing made a face and quickly grabbed for her eraser.

'Yi Phing!' the teacher suddenly called out her name. _'Terangkan jawapan untuk soalan tiga.' _(Explain the answer for the question three)

Yi Phing blanched at the woman and stood, glancing down at her textbook with a frown. The third question was a complex one, well, to her, that was. The answer to the question hadn't been explicitly stated in the text, but she supposed that she could make do with what there was mentioned in the passage. She cleared her throat nervously.

'_Ah… jawapannya 'A' kerana… kerana… jauh ialah Kata Adjektif?' _(Ah… the answer is 'A' because… because… far is an adjective?) she offered meekly.

'_Betul. Duduk, Yi Phing.'_ (Correct. Sit, Yi Phing)

Yi Phing sighed in relief as she sank into her chair. She hated it when the teacher asked questions like that. They always caught her off guard. The girl grabbed her pencil again, this time making sure to keep her eyes on the book, paying attention to the teacher's questions, though she knew that she wasn't going to get called again.

Then again, her teachers had a sharp eye for anyone that wasn't paying attention in class, and those people _always_ got called. Especially the students that liked to talk during class. Or daydream. Anything, really, as long as they weren't paying attention.

The blue-haired girl winced a bit when another student was called with the teacher using a particularly sharp tone. That only meant one thing, really: the teacher wasn't happy.

She picked up her pencil again, this time writing the bits and pieces of things she could catch from the teacher's tangent on adjectives, and hastily scrawled it down in her textbook.

When she was done with the barely legible notes, the girl started to doodle yet again, her pencil moving to the notebook set partially under the textbook pages, messily drawing out a sketch of Hinamori Amu.

As the girl erased the mop of hair she had drawn for the shoujo protagonist, she absently wondered to herself, _What are the girls doing?_ Redrawing the bangs of the character, she shrugged to herself, erasing an errant line in the line work. _Eh, who cares?_

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch**_

'动物的生活习惯分成两种,独居动物和群居动物。。。' (The habits of animals are separated into two kinds, solitary animals and pack animals...)

Zhi Hui tuned out the rest of Gaito reminding the class about their first and second chapters of the thick Science textbook. Granted, the teacher never really used the book at all, preferring to instead use booklets with exercises he picked out of UPSR-level revision books. Speaking of which…

Plucking out the new booklet, covered with purple paper, from her bag, she flipped it open to its first exercise under the desk and then sneakily slid the thin booklet under her other two books open on the table. Resuming listening to her guardian, she faked a serious expression and picked up her highlighter to make a note about something that he said. A small smirk played across her face as she absently drummed her fingers on the top of the wooden desk, waiting for the window of opportunity.

Sure enough, she got it. When her guardian had his back turned to the class to draw a quick diagram on how the forces of friction worked after covering the chapter on animals, she pulled out the purple booklet and quickly wrote a couple of answers down in the blanks offered by the exercise. Just as the teacher turned back, adjusting his spectacles, she dropped her pencil and pushed her booklet back under, pretending to have actually been paying attention to him while he was talking.

Gaito seemed suspicious, though, keeping his eyes one her and raising a brow as she put on a mock sweet smile of fake innocence. Her 'fake angel' cover for her 'devil mind', as he sometimes fondly called it. The black-haired teacher, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, turned back to the board, continuing to explain the chapter as he wrote.

Taking the window of opportunity once more, she slid the book back out and she continued to write answers down in the blanks yet again. Skipping over a question of which she didn't know the answer, or rather, didn't have the time to calculate the numbers, she resumed her work. The girl pushed her vision aids up her nose slightly as she continued to work, letting her guardian speak on as she did the exercise.

Sure, she had been caught a couple of times, but Gaito completely expected it from her, so it was less of doing something punishable and more of doing what made her, well, her. Besides, the one time she hadn't done it in class, Gaito had straight up asked her if she had a fever by the end of the day.

_Ah, expectations._ Zhi Hui grinned slyly as she hid the booklet underneath the other two. Her pencil was dropped in her pencil case in favour of her highlighter, and she quickly highlighted the parts that her guardian had written down on the whiteboard in the neon yellow of the stationery tool. She hid a snicker as she laced her fingers in front of her while resting her elbows on the desk top. _Never gets me caught._

Well, that was what she thought until Gaito left his place at the front of the class with the red whiteboard marker still in hand. He walked over to the front of her seat and folded his arms across his chest. 'Zhi Hui,' he sighed her name, exasperated.

She merely smirked at him.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch**_

Gaito sighed as he stared down at his innocently smirking ward. Well, those words didn't go together at all. Leaning down, he muttered to her, 'What did I say about doing your homework in class?'

The raven-haired girl merely continued to wear that exasperatingly mock-innocent expression. 'Not to,' she replied smoothly. 'But as you can see, I'm not. Not right now, Gaito-sama.' The grin that appeared on her face was Cheshire-like, and Gaito really didn't trust her whenever she had that expression. 'Anything else, my dearest guardian?' Her grin was showing too many teeth for the older Panthalassan to be comfortable with by now.

'No,' he finally said with a sigh. 'Not for now.' Shaking his head in mild dismay at his ward's antics, the teacher returned to the front of the class and continued to go through the chapter, occasionally turning to deliver sharp glances at Zhi Hui throughout the length of the double thirty-minute period.

Each time, he only caught her wearing a very cunning grin that looked reminiscent to the Cheshire Cat as she gave a subtle gesture that practically said 'go on, back to the lesson. I'm not doing anything wrong. Yet'. Yes, that last word was completely necessary. While Zhi Hui _was_ considered a teachers' pet, and 'teachers' as in plural, she was also one of the biggest troublemakers he'd ever known, though that could have partially been his fault.

He personally denied any connection to his school years.

As he wrapped up the final part of the chapter recap, the second bell rang, signifying that his period was over. Thankfully, he had until recess to finish marking the rest of the work that the class had handed in. Telling the class to pick up the purple booklet they had been given that morning, he listed off several exercises that he wanted to see handed in the next morning, resulting in several dissatisfied groans from the class, though someone was not making the same commotion.

Frowning, the Panthalassan turned to glance at Zhi Hui, who was now leaning back in her chair, both her hands held up in the air without anything in them, and her Mathematics textbook was on the table, along with the workbook. The purple booklet was also suspiciously missing from the table top, and he knew that she had done the work right under his nose. Tapping the cover of his own copy of the exercises, he was replied to with the younger Panthalassan raising up her book, cover open to the first exercise he had asked for, already finished.

Scowling, he shook his head. That one habit was the one he had been trying to kick out of Zhi Hui's other learning habits, being the only one he was genuinely irritated with, feeling that it disrupted his class more than any other of her little quirks. That wasn't taking into account the fact that he could indeed hear the scratching of her pencil on paper from the front of the class.

With a sigh that came off as a literal 'I give up' by the rest of the students, he headed to the teacher's office, then backtracked, remembering something. '传统节日的作文记得后天交！'(Remember to hand in the essays on traditional festivals the day after tomorrow!) he reminded the class.

The collective groan from the students didn't go unnoticed as he strolled towards the office, a smirk on his face. The students' moniker for him, the 'devil teacher', wasn't ill conceived, after all.

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

At the end of the school day, the bell rung just as the clock struck two-forty, making Lucia look up from the stack of books she was marking. 'Already?' she asked herself with a sigh, standing and stretching out the inevitable stiffness from sitting in the air-conditioned office for over a good hour. 'Ah, better get ready then,' she noted to herself with a soft sigh. Keeping her things in her handbag and sorting out the exercise books which she hadn't marked yet from those that she had already finished with — which wasn't too much, considering that she didn't have a tuition class to teach.

The brunette headed towards the stairs of the block, trying to balance the precariously stacked books in one hand while going for her car keys with the other. The books, put very carelessly one atop another, were shaky and ready to fall, even despite the considerably low number. Lucia's attention, diverted to her handbag, was instantly drawn back to the books as she nearly tripped over her own two feet.

'Gotcha,' someone intoned, chuckling at her predicament. 'You really need to be careful, Lucia.'

She recognized the voice, and Lucia smiled, running a hand through her hair as she picked up the books. 'Gaito,' she greeted, collecting several books in her hands. 'I didn't expect to see you today.'

The man shrugged. He leant down to pick up the exercise books as well, stacking them into a precise, balanced stack, not one book even an inch out of place. Placing the books on the railing, balancing it so precariously Lucia was surprise it didn't topple, he turned to smile at her. 'I wasn't going to stay for long, actually, but Zhi Hui,' here he sent a reproachful look at the stairs, 'somehow got herself into becoming the ire of the entire class.' He shook his head. 'Honestly, I've been their class teacher for three years now, and they still can't tell that I don't assign due dates for homework according to how my students behave. Serves her right though, for doing what I've explicitly told her not to.'

Lucia raised a brow at that, but didn't comment on the irritated tone he took. 'Let me guess,' she started, picking up the final scattered book from the ground. 'She was doing her homework in class while you taught. Again.' She wouldn't be surprised if the girl was caught — it was a discussion starter in the teachers' office more than not, after all.

Gaito nodded with a sigh, running his hand through his black hair. 'How about a little help with that?' he asked abruptly, looking down to the ground floor with a frown.

Before Lucia could respond to that, he took the stack of books from her hands and placed it on top of the stack he was holding. She wanted to protest, say that she could hold the books just fine, but he smiled at her, and she instantly relented. _What is it with me and smiles? _she wondered to herself. Her thoughts wandered, and instantly, she scolded herself. _No. No thinking of _him._ He is off-limits._

Said 'him', was Doumoto Kaito. She still hadn't gotten over the fact that he had, well, forgotten her. She also wasn't too happy with how he had given his necklace to Mikaru. But that was in the past, wasn't it?

She frowned at herself, her fists subconsciously tightening in irritation. Exhaling softly, the mermaid followed Gaito as he walked down the stairs, easily holding the stack of books without the danger of it toppling. Lucia noted the ease he had as he walked down, briefly wondering if physical prowess was just a Panthalassan trait.

As she headed for her car, she noted that Gaito had already found it, and was patiently waiting for her there, books in one hand and the other. Though, in hindsight, it wasn't very surprising that he found her car that quickly — the girls were waiting for her there.

'Oi, Gaito-sama,' another voice drawled from behind her. Zhi Hui strolled past her, right hand slipped in her pinafore pocket and her bag slipped over her shoulders. 'I thought you would be in the office. Puan Beh wants to see you tomorrow, by the way,' she said. Her voice was surprisingly chipper for someone who was supposedly in trouble with the class.

Gaito raised a brow. 'You're surprisingly… chipper,' he replied slowly. 'Did the class let you off?'

She snickered. 'Do you really think they'll stand a chance against me in a fight, even with numbers on their side?'

'Not a fight, you know. That's a fact. Humans aren't going to be able to survive in a fight with us,' he deadpanned. 'I meant the usual cold shoulder. Did they just up and give up after the fiftieth time this has happened?'

Lucia's brows raised in surprise. Fifty times? _Wow,_ she noted, _Zhi Hui really is a troublemaker, isn't she?_

'Nah,' she said, shrugging. 'I just walked out on them when they started. Maybe punched one or two of the boys when they attempted to stop me.' She then amended her sentence, saying, 'Don't worry, no lasting marks, just a couple of light hits to the upper arm, enough to make them back off.'

'Yes,' Gaito deadpanned, eyeing her warily. 'Light,' he repeated mockingly. 'You remember what happened last time you used that adjective, right?'

She snorted. 'Brian had it coming. He didn't dodge. Ain't my fault he got hit.'

Lucia cleared her throat, directing the topic of conversation away from… well, whatever it was that they were talking about. 'Thanks for the help, Gaito,' she cut in quickly. She pulled out the keys to her car and quickly unlocked the boot. 'You can put the books in there, please.'

Gaito held the cover open and set the books down, closing the cover once he was done. He checked his watch. 'Ah, sorry about this Lucia,' he noted absently. 'It's four fifty already. I'll see you tomorrow.'

'Right,' Lucia acknowledged with a nod. 'Uh, tomorrow.'

Zhi Hui snickered. 'Yes,' she mocked, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. 'Tomorrow indeed.' She coughed, muttering something under her breath. Something that suspiciously sounded like 'just get it over with, you two'.

Gaito didn't seem to notice that, but Lucia kept an eye on the mildly amused girl as she walked off in the direction that Gaito's car was in.

_That girl…_ Lucia thought, sweat dropping, _is eccentric._

'Oh, by the way!' Zhi Hui called, turning back. 'You may want to go to the race during the festival!'

Festival? The only festival relatively near the date was the Dumpling Festival, and that was in May.

Lucia shook her head and got into the car, the girls, still chattering loudly and animatedly, followed, lightly arguing about who got the front seat. It ended up with Lavena getting the seat while the rest of the girls squeezed into the back.

'So, how was your day, girls?' Lucia asked them, heading back to Lavena's house, where the rest of the girls would be picked up by their mothers.

'Our Chinese teacher was absent,' Lavhanya supplied helpfully. 'We spent the period talking.'

'Our Maths teacher gave us another quiz,' Shu Qing said.

'It was hard too,' Shu Ting groused.

'Science teacher was dong self-revision periods,' Yi Phing spoke, her pencil out as she tried to finish her Maths homework.

'I may have failed another quiz,' Lavena sheepishly added.

Lucia sighed, shaking her head. Yes, this was just like the girls. She concentrated on driving, but couldn't help the smile that crept onto her lips. Just another normal school day.

_End Chapter_

* * *

Oh yes. A normal day again. This is filler, actually, now that I think of it, but it's also a glance on how school days usually go for the cast. Zhi Hui's habit is one I've been called out on a couple of times, and honestly, I find it funny how Gaito deals with it - he just doesn't. Reminds me of my old teacher. Heh. Anyway, here you go. The next chapter will be out in June on the same day as the Duanwu festival.


	14. Special 2: Duan Wu Festival

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

**Stories/Tales**

* * *

_Special 2:端午节_

**The Dragon Boat Festival, also often known as either the 'Tuen Ng' or the 'Duan Wu' Festival, is a traditional and statutory holiday that originated in China.**

**The festival occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month according to the traditional lunar calendar, the source of its alternative name, the 'Double Fifth Festival'. The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so the date varies from year to year on the Gregorian calendar. For example, in 2012, it fell on June 23; in 2013, it fell on June 12; and in 2014, it was on June 2. The focus of most Duan Wu Festivals involves eating zòngzi, which are sticky rice treats wrapped in bamboo leaves and racing dragon boats.**

**The story best known in modern China holds that the festival commemorates the death of the poet and minister Qu Yuan. The story goes that Qu Yuan, of the ancient state of Chu during the Warring States period of China, was a cadet member of the Chu royal house that served in high offices. However, when the king allied with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu Yuan was banished for opposing the alliance and accused of treason. During his exile, the man wrote a great deal of poetry until twenty-eight years later, when Qin captured Ying, the capital of Chu. In despair, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River.**

**The local people of the area, who greatly admired the poet, raced out in their boats to save his body. When his body could not be found, they then dropped balls of sticky rice into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of the poet's body. This is said to be the origin of both the zòngzi and the dragon boat racing.**

**The festival is a long marked festival celebrated in China and is considered a public holiday in places such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. However, the People's Republic of China, established in 1949 did not recognize it as an official public holiday. Beginning in the year 2005, the government had begun planning for the re-recognition of three traditional holidays, including Duanwu. Since 2008, the festival was been celebrated not only as a festival, but also a public holiday in the People's Republic of China. **

**The Dragon Boat festival is also unofficially observed by the Chinese communities of South East Asia, particularly the overseas communities in Singapore and Malaysia. There are various equivalent and related official festivals that are celebrated around the world, like Children's Day in Japan, Dano in Korea, and ****Tết Đoan Ngọ in Vietnam. In the Okinawa Prefecture of Japan, it is a tradition of dragonboat races known as hari. The capital city of Naha performs the Naha Hari as part of the national observance of Children's Day; however, in Itoman, the Itoman Hare is celebrated on the exact same day as the Duanwu Festival, as according to the Chinese Lunar calendar. On the other hand, the city of Tomigusuku also has its own dragonboat race, known as the Tomigusuku Hari. It is performed in late July, however, and misses the Duanwu Festival by a month.**

**Three of the most widespread activities for the Duanwu Festival are eating (and preparing, of course) ****zòngzi, drinking realgar wine, and racing dragon boats.**

**On the other hand, there are many common and traditional activities, such as the game of making an egg stand at noon. The game entails that good luck will be brought to you if you can make the egg stand at exactly 12:00 noon, though this practice is also associated with the Spring Equinox on the 21****st**** of March every year. The practice comes from the belief that Earth's gravity is different on those dates and thus can make an egg stand up. **

**Many of the activities carried out during Duanwu were regarded by the ancients as effective in preventing disease or evil, as well as promoting health and well-being.**

**In the early years, of the Republic of China, the Duanwu Festival was celebrated as 'Poet's Day' due to Qu Yuan's famed status as China's first known poet. **

_**Special 2: Duanwu Festival**_

Lucia pulled the blanket further over her body and turned over in her bed. The air conditioner was already turned off — Lucia didn't like to use the air conditioning at all; she much preferred to rely on the fan to cool her down during the warm nights. The mermaid dozed in her bed for a bit longer, ignoring light knocks on the door for a while until she tried to actively block it out.

Dragging her pillow over her head, the mermaid attempted to sleep on, but six voices chirping her name with enthusiasm forced her to give up. Defeated, the brunette sat up and yawned — she had had a long night of grading exercise books and deciphering messy handwriting. Running a hand through her very tangled brown hair, the woman opened the door.

'Lucia-nee!' Six simultaneous choruses came and Lucia found herself faced with the six girls under her care.

'Girls?' Lucia managed to ask sleepily. 'What's the matter? Why are you up so early on a Saturday?' Fighting back a yawn, she stole a glance outside at the clock that hung on the wall opposite her door. 'It's only eight.' The woman rubbed her eyes, resisting the urge to just drop back onto the bed and sleep for a couple more hours.

'But it's Duanwu!' Shu Ting protested, the younger brunette wearing her favoured golden _qipao_ blouse and a pale blue skirt. 'You promised to take us to see the races in Penang!'

Lucia blinked twice. _I did?_

Lavena nodded, as if the girl had read her mind. Though, considering the girl's unique abilities, especially after gaining her pearl, the pink mermaid wouldn't be surprised if the teen actually _had._ 'Yeah,' she piped in, 'we brought it up during the way home last week, right?'

_Oh._ Now Lucia remembered. Yi Phing was complaining about an essay being assigned by a teacher that had to be about traditional festivals. Offhandedly, she had mentioned the upcoming Duanwu Festival and had suggested jokingly that she bring the girls to Penang for a short trip to watch the race. The girls had then agreed whole-heartedly with very enthusiastic answers, and the teacher had figured that she didn't have anything to do anyway and promised them she'd take them there.

She had forgotten about it due to preparations for the mid-year exams and had pushed it to the back of her mind until now. _Oops._ The woman sighed, gathering her hair into a mock-ponytail at the nape of her neck. 'I'm so sorry girls,' she apologized. 'I'll be ready in half an hour.'

Lavhanya checked her watch. 'Well,' she announced, 'that's fine with me. I say we all go out and lounge on the couch until she's done.' The second-youngest of the six looked relieved to have some more time — she was trying and failing to hold back a yawn.

_The girls must've woken her early. No wonder she's relieved._

Lavena apparently had the good sense to shoo the girls out, though, and the oldest of the six quickly ushered the girls down the stairs, muttering something about catching the reruns of some anime.

Lucia chuckled in mild amusement, heading to her closet to get her clothes ready for the day. _Always the same girls,_ she thought with a smile.

_**Special 2: Duanwu Festival**_

In two hours' time, Lucia and the girls were waiting patiently at the race's venue in Penang. The northern state wasn't very far from the state of Perak, especially since they had taken a train there instead of using the highway lanes. The train to Butterworth had taken one hour, and the girls had passed the time on their phones, chatting and occasionally discussing Gaito's abrasive ward.

Lucia had kept her mind on Gaito at that point as well. She knew that the other teacher was a very big fan of giving out homework — she had overheard his students' complaining in the staffroom. What was the tally again? Fourteen, fifteen books in one day? How did the man ever find the time to mark those exercises anyway?

Lucia checked her phone once, noting that the race was about to start in a couple of minutes. She looked up, opening her mouth to try and tell the girls to stay close to her, but to her immense surprise and irritation, the girls had vanished from her line of sight. 'Girls!' she called out, trying to look for their distinctive hair colours in the crowd. Alas, all the people together made it _very _hard to distinguish Lavena's dark purple hair, Shu Qing and Yi Phing's slightly brighter blue hair, or even Shu Ting's brunette.

Cursing lightly in Japanese, Lucia started to walk about. She took her phone out and started going through her contacts to find Lavena's number, but before she did, the woman caught sight of someone familiar in the crowd.

Gaito was standing with his arms crossed over his chest as he observed Zhi Hui standing in front of him. The girl had a notebook out and a pencil in her hand. He was saying, 'Are you really sure that this is going to be of help, Zhi Hui?'

'You're the one that insisted we do something on traditional festivals,' the bespectacled girl shot back, adjusting her spectacles. 'This is what _I _am going to do.'

Gaito sighed. 'So this is payback for the essays?'

Zhi Hui snorted. 'Barely. But yes, it may be, depending on your view on it. Besides, I've been wanting to see this since I was in Standard One.'

'Right,' Gaito deadpanned. He looked around, seemingly becoming aware that there was someone looking at them. When his eyes landed on her, he blinked. 'Lucia?' he asked.

Zhi Hui looked up as well, and upon seeing her, she snickered. 'Oh, what a coincidence,' she said, almost too casual to be believed. 'Yi Phing whined over an essay?' she guessed, a grin spreading across her face that was entirely too shark-like.

Lucia frowned. 'How did you know that?'

She snickered. 'One, you just told me; two, I heard her when I passed her during recess. She's loud when she's complaining, unsurprisingly.'

'Zhi Hui,' Gaito started with a faint undertone that the mermaid didn't quite catch. 'Remember what I said about talking about the girls in public?'

Zhi Hui's grin remained. 'Got it.' She looked around, pursing her lips into a frown. 'Where are they, anyway? I could've sworn I sensed them before I saw you…'

Gaito matched her look as he too glanced around. 'Are you sure, Zhi Hui?'

'When have I been wrong in this situation?' the girl shot back at him.

He rolled his eyes. 'Several,' he quite plainly stated. 'Well then,' he said, turning back to Lucia, who had been watching their banter with a small smile, 'I suggest you walk with us until we find them, then. A call might not be of much use, especially in this crowd.'

Lucia sighed, running a hand through her loose hair. 'Right…' she muttered with a sigh. 'Now,' she began softly as they started walking along in a direction along the race's path, 'I was wondering why you two were here.'

Gaito rolled his eyes, occasionally glancing back at Zhi Hui, who had chosen to trail behind. 'It's her fault,' he simply stated, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. 'Though I suppose I could be blamed too.' He shook his head. 'Maybe giving them essays during this period wasn't exactly my best idea. Should've known what Zhi Hui's like when she gets payback in mind,' he muttered at the end.

The pink mermaid held back a small smile as they continued to look around for the six girls. Cheering started from behind them and Lucia stopped, turning to look back. 'Oh, it looks like the race's started.'

'Hmm?' Gaito muttered, also glancing back. 'Ah, it appears that it has.' They paused to look at the race as the boats rapidly shot past. The Panthalassan seemed mildly disinterested in the race though, and simply waited for the boat to pass before he slipped his hands into the pockets of his slacks and continued walking. 'So, Lucia, how have the girls been lately?' he asked casually.

The brunette blinked and continued walking to catch up with him. 'They're fine,' she said in reply, looking around again to try and catch sight of the girls. 'Yi Phing's starting to freak out about her exams again, but otherwise, they're fine.'

'Ah, yes, the exams,' Gaito mused. 'Zhi Hui's been starting to catch up on her revision recently. I thought something was up with that.' He chuckled. 'I prepared the papers early enough so that I'm not worrying about that now. Speaking of exams,' he turned to face her, 'how's the preparation going on for the mid-year Moral papers?'

She made a face. 'I'd say it's going great, but that would be lying, so no, it's not going fine.'

Gaito laughed at that, a clear, light-hearted sound. 'Oh, it's always like that for the first year,' he assured her. 'It gets better once you get used to the layout — I had the problem a few years back too.'

Lucia hummed softly to herself. 'You know, I never really thought of it, but when did you start teaching? I didn't picture you as the type who liked kids.'

'Zhi Hui's a kid,' he pointed out dryly. 'I don't exactly have a problem with her, now do I?'

'She doesn't act like it,' Lucia insisted. 'Besides, what about the rest of your class?'

Gaito frowned briefly, pausing in his tracks. 'I'm not very sure,' he admitted, 'but after a year or so, you kind of grow fond of those kids.' With a fond smile, he turned a bit to glance behind. 'Where's Zhi Hui?' he mused.

Lucia turned as well, seeing that the girl wasn't behind them as she had thought. 'Maybe she saw the girls?' she suggested.

The Panthalassan shrugged. 'Maybe. Anyway, I started teaching when Zhi Hui was in Standard Three. I managed to pull some strings and got myself landed as her form teacher.' He shook his head with a chuckle. 'Can't believe that it's already been three years since I've gotten that class onto the right track.'

Lucia raised a brow at that statement. The pink mermaid said, 'You make them sound like they're troublemakers.'

'That's because they still are.'

The brunette couldn't keep the slight smile off her face at that. Despite the sentence, his tone was anything _but_ annoyed or irritated, instead, he sounded… fond.

_I can't believe this is the same person I was fighting against eleven years ago,_ Lucia thought, her lips pulled into a small smile.

'Lucia-nee!'

Both Lucia and Gaito stopped in their tracks and turned around, seeing the six girls under Lucia's supervision run up to them. Zhi Hui strolled up not a minute later, writing in her notepad.

'Sorry,' Lavena said between pants for breath when the group finally got there. 'We got distracted by the boats and wandered off.'

'You mean 'meetha got distracted and we were pulled along before we could lose her,' Shu Qing corrected with a grumble.

The youngest of the six blew her cheeks out and pouted, glaring at the dark blue-haired girl. She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her brown eyes at the older girl, who instantly put her hands up in the air.

'What?' Shu Qing whined. 'It's true!' she defended.

'Alright, alright,' Lucia said, smiling. 'You're all forgiven. Now I believe you all wanted to see the race?' She checked the watch she wore. 'And I believe the next round is starting right about… now.'

Cheering erupted again, and Lavena quickly turned to her. 'Lucia-nee,' she started almost pleadingly. 'Can we go up front? I promise we'll be right over there.'

The rest of the six continued the pleading, and no sooner did they start did Lucia relent.

'Fine,' she conceded. 'Don't get lost this time!' she called to them as the excited group weaved their way to the front. She looked at Zhi Hui, who was looking at the girls with a grin on her face. 'You're not going?' she asked the girl.

The dark-haired girl shook her head. 'No, I'm afraid not. I have things to do,' here, she tapped her notepad with the end of her pencil, 'that don't involve squeezing to the front of a large crowd.'

'I see.'

A smooth sound of a classical piano piece could be heard, and Lucia glanced over in Gaito's direction. The man pulled out his phone, checked the screen, and promptly excused himself. 'I'm sorry, I have to take this,' he apologized, heading off to an area where the crowd was much sparser.

Once Gaito was well out of sight, Zhi Hui's grin changed, turning more… shark-like. The girl folded her arms over her chest, her lips curling up. 'You can stop denying, you know.'

Lucia blinked. 'Denying what?'

Zhi Hui snickered. 'It's painfully obvious "what". Don't tell me you don't know about the bets?'

The brunette frowned at that. 'What bets?' she asked, her brow furrowing.

The Panthalassan's eyes gleamed. 'You really don't know?' she asked, mirth in her tone. 'I'm starting to wonder who's the dense one here — I've given Gaito-sama hints over these last two years, and he _still _hasn't picked up on anything.' She adjusted her spectacles, chuckling. 'You're the counsellor, aren't you, Lucia-sama? You're supposed to be more perceptive than this.'

Lucia was really confused at this point. She was about to ask, but Zhi Hui stepped aside and spoke, 'He's coming back.'

True enough, Gaito soon returned. He took one glance at her and turned his gaze on Zhi Hui. 'Zhi Hui,' he started warningly. 'What did you say?'

'The same thing I've been telling you for three years straight,' Zhi Hui muttered with a sigh. 'You _still _don't get it, and you're the smart one.' She shook her head, looking disappointed. 'Madam Donglin is going to be so disappointed in you, Gaito-sama.'

Gaito arched a brow. 'What exactly does Donglin have to do with all this?' he asked with thinly veiled confusion in his tone.

Zhi Hui smirked. 'I promised I wouldn't say anything until it came true. You'll have to wait and see.'

'Right,' Gaito deadpanned.

The bespectacled girl glanced down at her watch. 'It's nearly noon,' she reported, looking up again. 'In case you don't remember, Gaito-sama, there are still around twenty or so essays that you've left untouched. Besides,' she said, holding up her notepad, 'I've gotten all the information I need.'

Was it just Lucia's imagination, or did she seriously see a sketch on the first page?

The black-haired teacher frowned at the reminder. 'Really?' he muttered. Sighing, he said, 'Well, I suppose that concludes our conversation for today, Lucia. I'll see you at school?' he offered.

'That's sounds nice,' Lucia replied with a smile.

Gaito headed off, Zhi Hui pausing to look between him and her for a moment before she displayed the first page of her notebook, revealing a fairly accurate pencil sketch of her and Gaito talking together. The younger Panthalassan shot the mermaid a grin and walked off, rapidly catching up with her guardian and disappearing in the crowd.

Lucia just stood there in mild astonishment at the girl before she was startled out of her reverie by her phone playing the short notification jingle associated with messages. Pulling out her smartphone, she saw the window that popped up.

_Lucia, how about we continue this discussion afterschool tomorrow? Our desks are back-to-back, after all. Also, I saw what Zhi Hui drew in her notepad. Do you have any idea when she had the time to draw that? – Gaito_

Lucia blinked, then typed a message back. _I'm afraid not. Afterschool tomorrow? Don't you have tuition?_

_No. That's Donglin's turn. You do look lovely in that sketch though._

Lucia felt herself blushing as she stared at the message. Without replying, she dismissed the message and turned off the screen to her phone. She could hear the girls loudly discussing the race amongst themselves as they came up from behind her, but her mind was still on the last sentence he wrote.

'Lucia-nee? You alright? Why are you blushing?' Lavena asked curiously.

'N-no reason,' Lucia defended, well aware that it sounded sketchy. 'Anyway, are you girls done?'

As the girls erupted into discussion, Lucia found her flush returning as her thoughts wandered onto the black-haired Panthalassan once more.

* * *

Oh yes, more hints of Lucia/Gaito. If the filter didn't tip you off already, this definitely will, along with the earlier chapters.


	15. Chapter 12: Competition

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

**Notes/Stories**

* * *

_Chapter 12: Competition_

Lavena paced the corridor nervously, her hands clasped behind her back. The girl swallowed anxiously as she walked to and fro — she was up next! The purple-haired teenager continued to pace the length of the corridor as she waited to be called.

The half-mermaid teen was at an inter-school _congkak_ competition, representing her school. The girl, though not an avid player, had been requested by her teacher to join the team during the competition season. Though initially reluctant, she had agreed. Now, she was very anxiously pacing the corridor of the host school in Ipoh, waiting for the announcer to call her name as the next competitor.

She paused, listening carefully as an announcement was declared. Hearing her name, the girl followed the teacher that took the lead, taking her to the hall. Nervously, she took a seat at the spot designated for her.

Her opponent, a Malay girl in _baju kurung_ of about the same age, was already seated, patiently observing the board. As Lavena took a seat, the starting bell rung, and Lavena, designated as the first player, took the game pieces from one of the houses to start the game.

After a while, Lavena found herself cornered. If she moved, she would lose a turn and then might lose the entire game. Frowning, the girl carefully examined her options. Her brown eyes lit up when she saw a chance to win present itself on the table. _Now, if I just play this right…_

She dropped the playing pieces one by one until she came to her storehouse with her second-to-last piece. Dropping the last piece into the empty space on the other side, she waited until the next two turns had passed, then, she grinned. Scooping up the last pieces in her space, she dropped them all in the required positions, then ended with a piece in the storehouse, enabling another turn. On that turn, seeing as she had only three pieces in her space, she managed to avoid skipping the next turn.

After a tense forty-five minutes, the round ended, Lavena having won the match. Leaning back in her chair, Lavena sighed in relief as she was allowed to leave the hall. The girl instantly shot up and walked out of her chair, heading towards the rest area.

As the girl was walking towards the area though, the announcements came back on. What was heard wasn't a voice — it was terribly distorted music.

Flinching, Lavena instantly clapped her hands over her ears. 'What _is _that sound?' she asked herself, trying not to run out of the place screaming for help. Forcing herself to continue walking on, the girl headed to the rest area, now really needing to sit down.

On her way, five shouts of her name made the girl spin around… and instantly be barrelled down by her sister, flying at her. 'Vena!' the brunette chirped, looking satisfied with herself.

Lavena gaped. 'What are you doing here, 'meetha?' she asked, puzzled. As the other four walked over, she amended her question to 'What are all of you doing _here?'_ instead.

Shu Qing smiled brightly at her. 'Lucia-nee said that she was going to be in Ipoh for a while for some business, and dropped us off here so we could she you for a while. She said that someone told her to 'look out for the six of us', but she wouldn't tell us who.' Shu Qing sulked.

Yi Phing pouted, folding her arms over her chest. 'I bet it was that Zhi Hui,' she grumbled. 'Who does she think she is? Always messing with our lives.'

Lavena was seriously tempted to agree with Yi Phing. She _really_ didn't like the black-haired girl at all. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the girl was always making condescending comments about them when they were within earshot, or the fact that the girl was always blunt, rude and abrasive to them. Maybe both?

Still, she had to serve as the voice of reason… right? 'Hey,' she started, 'she's not _that_ bad.' That sounded weak, even to her. Besides, the rest of the girls knew how much she didn't like the bespectacled girl anyway — pretending that she could stand her was just a waste of time.

As if on cue, the announcements came on again, that weird, painfully distorted music playing. In sync, all of the six girls covered their ears, flinching.

'What the heck _is_ that?' Lavhanya yelped.

The music stopped with a scratchy sound, like a bad record. As the music fizzled out, the half-mermaid girls looked around warily, then got to their feet. Shu Ting glanced around the corridor and automatically reached up to clasp her necklace. 'I don't like this…' she mumbled.

Shu Qing nodded in agreement, her blue hair bouncing. 'Neither do I,' she said, brow furrowed together. 'Uh… do you girls think something is off?'

Yi Phing tentatively raised her hand. '…me?' she offered.

Lavhanya nodded. 'Me too,' she affirmed. 'There's something wrong. That song is… really creeping me out.'

'Definitely,' Shusmeetha said. The girl looked to her left, then her right, and back to the girls. 'Do you think… the, um, demons are behind this?' She looked expectantly at Lavena.

To Lavena's surprise, the other four girls also looked over to her. Well, it wasn't as much of a surprise as she would have thought half a year ago. She was thirteen, the oldest of the six girls, and by default, all of them looked up to her to make the decisions.

This meant that she was the _de facto _leader, and consequently, she had the responsibility. This was why she didn't like to be a leader. The girl frowned, fidgeting with her fingers for a while, then looking to and fro between the corridor and the girls. 'Uhm…' she mumbled, eyes shifting between them. 'Maybe…?' she said, too questioningly to be an actual answer.

Shu Ting nodded. 'Possibly,' she concluded. 'Should we… well, go after them?'

Yet again, five pairs of dark brown eyes turned to her, and Lavena winced at the attention. She scratched the back of her head as she thought. 'Um… sure? I think?' she mumbled to herself. Great, now she was sounding too hesitant.

Lavhanya nodded an affirmative. Pumping her fist in the air, she declared, 'Alright, so let's go!' The athletic girl sprinted off in a direction down the corridor, that Lavena wasn't even sure was the way to the announcement room, or whatever it was called in the school.

'Wait!' Yi Phing yelped, following after her partner and best friend. 'Lav!'

Like that was the trigger, all the rest of the girls followed, scrambling after them in order to not lose the duo. Lavena resisted the urge to smack her forehead and ran after them to catch up — not like it was hard. The only athletic one in the group was Lavhanya, and once Yi Phing caught up with her, she was at a speedy walking speed which made it very easy to catch up to her.

In a matter of minutes, the group of girls were together as they cautiously rounded a corner. Suddenly, Shu Qing burst out, 'This is taking _forever!'_ The girl didn't seem happy with the thought of continuing the search. 'Why don't we just head back?' she grumbled, 'I mean, those demons aren't doing anything wrong, right?'

Shu Ting gave the girl a look — despite the two being very much similar in looks and personality, there were still differences, like Shu Qing being more of an inside person while Shu Ting preferred the outdoors, or Shu Qing being the more girly of the two while Shu Ting participated in martial arts. It didn't change the fact that they were still very much alike though. 'Really, Qing?' Shu Ting muttered. 'I thought you said that those things were always up to no good.'

'I do,' the blue-haired girl insisted. 'I just don't like having to hunt them down when they're not bothering me.'

Lavhanya snorted at that. 'Oh, stop being so lazy, Shu Qing,' she drawled. 'Those demons are somewhere around here — it'll a breeze to find them.'

'Why don't you do it then?' Shu Qing shot back, harrumphing.

Shusmeetha made a face at the usual banter. 'Not again,' she groaned, hiding her face in her hands.

Yi Phing rolled her eyes as the trio started to argue. The girl was the more soft-spoken of the entire group, but she was also the peace keeper that got easily annoyed with the antics that involved arguing. That was mainly because hot-blooded Lavhanya was a total tomboy, Shu Qing was a diva-like fashionista, and Shu Ting was just a slightly tomboyish girly girl — in other words, conflicting personalities were too much of a problem to _not_ lead to arguments once in a while.

Lavena sighed, shaking her head. 'Let's just get a move on,' she said to Shusmeetha and Yi Phing. 'They'll cool down in a couple of minutes.'

The sounds of the girls arguing suddenly stopped.

Lavena, sensing that something was off, turned to look at them. All three of their necklaces were _glowing_. The girls looked surprised, and Lavhanya carefully opened her locket, showing her pearl glowing intensely.

'Err, okay?' she mumbled confused. 'Someone tell me what's going on?'

Lavena's necklace glowed sharply as well, and the teen frowned. 'No idea,' she said, confusedly.

'Maybe the demons are around,' Shusmeetha suggested as she fiddled with her own necklace that had started glowing as well.

'Maybe 'meetha's right?' Yi Phing said, looking down at her own glowing locket.

'Ooh! Maybe it's a game of hot and cold!' Lavhanya suggested, grinning widely. She was fixed with two identical looks by Shu Ting and Shu Qing at the suggestion.

Before the trio could start again, Lavena cut into their staring contest. 'Break it up, you three,' she stated sternly. 'I think I know where the demons are.' She looked down the corridor, seeing the plaque on the wall that proclaimed 'announcement room' in Chinese. Yup, there it was. 'There.' She pointed.

'Alright!' Lavhanya cheered. 'I'm on it!' She sprinted right up and before anyone could stop her, she kicked the door.

'Wait! Lav!' the girls yelped in unison. They waited… and the door didn't budge.

'Oh, wait, never mind,' Lavena said in relief.

Then the door opened inwards. The girls all said in unison, 'Uh-oh.'

Lavena just sighed. _Great._

'Who's there?!' two voices yelled in unison.

Lavhanya yelped, quickly ducking out of sight, holding her hands over her head.

A red-head stuck her head out, strangely blue eyes looking around the corridor. Then, her eyes landed on Lavhanya, and narrowed. 'Who are you?' she screeched. 'Sister Mimi! Look who we have here?'

Lavena paled. _The Black Beauty Sisters? Oh dear Aqua Regina…_

A bespectacled girl with pale blue hair looked outside, clad in the school uniform of the national secondary schools. 'What is it, Sister Sheshe?' Then she saw Lavhanya. Her eyes then widened. 'She's one of those girls, Sister Sheshe!' she exclaimed.

'Oh really?' Sheshe-in-disguise muttered. She reached out to grab at Lavhanya, but the girl was faster. Immediately, Lavhanya darted over to the girls, and the Sisters came chasing out.

The two demons stopped in their tracks seeing all of them in one spot. Sheshe looked angered beyond comprehension at seeing Yi Phing. 'You little brat!' she snapped. 'Sister Mimi!'

Lavena reacted quickly. 'Girls!' she yelled. 'Transform!'

'Flame Pearl Voice!'

'Nature Pearl Voice!'

'Aqua Pearl Voice!'

'Light Pearl Voice!'

'Frost Pearl Voice!'

'Psychic Pearl Voice!'

In six synced bursts of light, the girls transformed into their idol forms. Lavhanya glared at them. Folding her arms over her chest, she demanded, 'What are you freaks doing here?'

'Freaks?' Sheshe spluttered. _'Freaks?!'_

'Yeah,' Shu Qing concurred. 'Freaks!'

'Ugh,' Mimi spat. 'If you absolutely _have _to know, you annoying little mermaid, we're here to find the Pink Pearl Princess — the same one that you've been hiding for ten years!' She huffed. 'So turn her over and we won't make this hard for you!'

'Not a chance, Black Beauty Sisters!' Lavena spun her microphone in her hands, holding it up to her mouth. 'Girls! Pichi Pichi Pitch, Live — '

'Not so fast! It's show time!' They were cut off instantly as the water demons turned into their real forms, shedding the human disguises. Microphones in hands, they started to sing their horrible song.

_A baroque that shuts out the bright light, it becomes a beautiful noise_

_Listen to the whisper of our dark trap, it cradles you, and you will eternally sleep_

Lavena screamed in pain as the song echoed in the corridor. Through the pain thumping in her skull, she wondered if the students of the school could hear it. Hopefully not, otherwise they would be in serious trouble.

_Slowly and gracefully_

_The shadows of our hearts awaken_

_The crimson roses that decorate the depths of the sea, turning pearls to ice_

'You know,' she heard Yi Phing yell, 'this is one of the times when I really hope Zhi Hui was here! At least she can make them cut this horrible noise short!'

'I wouldn't have thought she'd be much help!' Shu Ting shouted out. 'Besides, why would she actually _help_ us? I bet she'd just stand there making those snide remarks of hers!'

_Now… together, all of your wishes shall become one_

_Surrender yourselves into the depths of the pitch black darkness_

Lavena blocked out what they were saying — trying to focus through the song was already too much of a chore. _Come on,_ she was thinking, _stop singing already!_ Her head hurt from the terrible noise.

_This eternal heart-stealing baroque is embraced by the waves of hate and rage_

_The fragile world that you once believed in shall disappear in a single moment_

The announcement system then started — probably something from the competition — Lavena couldn't have cared less at that moment. 'The finals will resume in ten minutes,' it said. 'May all contestants please return to the hall as soon as they can.'

The finals! Lavena needed to end this, and quick!

'Ugh!' Sheshe snapped irritated. 'Can't the announcement just wait for a minute?'

The music screeched to a halt, something Lavena was glad for. The girl leapt to her feet, shouting out, 'Now, girls! This is our chance!' The pounding in her head slowly receded and the purple-haired idol could finally think properly again. Spinning her microphone in her hand, she pointed it at the Sisters.

The other girls followed her lead, each looking better now that the horrible, ear-grinding music had been stopped. In unison, all six declared, 'We are the Pearl Voices, and on behalf of the seven seas, we'll punish you!

'Pichi Pichi Pitch, Live Start!'

The Sisters had a look on their faces that Lavena was able to identify as 'Oh crap'. Both took a step back, then Mimi whipped out what Lavena recognized as headphones, tossed one over to Sheshe, and in sync, both fixed the headphones over their ears, wearing a wicked grin as they did so.

_I'll leave on a journey heading towards the other side of the sun and the wind_

_For surely, without a map, the door into paradise will open_

The Sisters didn't look affected — they were smirking evilly, and looking at each other smugly. The headphones! Those headphones were the reason they weren't affected! But could another way be found around the headphones?

Determined, Lavena lead the verse, her voice strong as she assumed her mantle of the group's leader.

_The bright morning that you were born into this very world, a bell of blessings rang loudly forth_

_Embracing only a single precious treasure, people will be born with you_

The headphones sparked with electricity as Lavena sang, fizzling out as the girl sang louder. Finally, with a loud 'pop', they burnt out, and the Sisters started to get assaulted by Lavena's energetic voice.

'Gyah!' Mimi shrieked. 'Why does this always happen to us?' she complained to her sister.

Sheshe fixed the blue-haired demon with a glare. 'Well,' she shot back, 'this would have worked if you hadn't insisted on those terrible quality headphones!'

'So it's _my_ fault now?' The red-eyed demon spat, annoyed.

'_Yes!'_ Sheshe screeched.

_I will not forget all of my feelings from that day_

_They all flow right through my heart_

_Dear My Songs…_

The rest of the girls split into harmony as Lavena sang the chorus, Shu Qing and Shu Ting helping her sing the melody while Shusmeetha and Lavhanya took the high harmony and Yi Phing sang the low harmony. All of the girls raised their free hand in unison, their pearls glowing from their microphones.

'No!' The Sisters clapped their hands over their ears, shrieking and screeching in pain. 'Not again!'

_In the middle of our journey, as we aim towards the bright country of the sun_

_Even without a map, we will make it to the Promised Land_

_The legend that is touched by love is constantly changing the endless future_

_Definitely, many dreams can be granted by a wish... so smile_

The chorus was ended by cheering from the girls as Lavena grinned at the Sisters. 'How about an encore?' she asked, smiling brightly at them.

Sheshe's blue eyes twitched in mild anger. 'No encore!' she shouted, pulling Mimi to her feet. 'We'll get you next time, mermaids, and that princess too!'

As they teleported away, Lavena heard Mimi grumble, 'This is the second time today. We would've gotten away with the first time, if it hadn't been for that meddling girl with those spectacles!'

_Meddling girl with spectacles? Sounds a lot like that Zhi Hui…_ Lavena mused. Releasing her transformation along with the others in a shower of coloured light, the oldest girl of the group was pulled into a group hug by her sister, who animatedly cheered her on.

'Good job, 'vena!' Lavhanya cheered, patting her on the shoulder.

'Yeah!' Shu Qing agreed. 'We took down those freaks easy!'

Lavena smiled, checking her watch. _Still five minutes left, just enough time._ 'Well girls, I have to get going. The finals start in a matter of minutes. Lucia-nee is picking us up?'

'Yup,' Yi Phing affirmed. 'You'd better win this competition,' she said, smiling.

'Trust me, I will,' Lavena said.

After ten minutes, Lavena was back in the hall, nervously trying to find a way of winning the game. So far, she wasn't doing so well — she had already lost five turns in a row, no thanks to poor luck. The teen moved her pieces yet again, and to her delight, she managed to get another turn by ending with her storehouse.

Unfortunately, one stroke of luck didn't manage to help her win the entire game. After another half an hour, Lavena sighed as she finished her round, thus ending the game as she dropped the final piece in her storehouse. Another painstaking five minutes passed to count the score, and then it was announced.

Lavena sighed in mild disappointment as she learnt she had gotten the first runner-up, but then again, she had done pretty well that day, if she did say so herself — making her way into the finals was no small feat. She stretched as she walked out of the building with the girls around her, all chattering about the disappointment they had.

Lavena honestly didn't mind losing. She wasn't the kind of girl that needed to win at every turn. As she accompanied her friends to the bus stop where Lucia would come to pick them up, she started feeling light-headed again. Hastily, she sprinted to the bus stop and took a seat on the bench, holding her head in her hands. 'Ugh…' she muttered.

_A girl with dark blonde hair was on the beach with a boy who had bright orange hair. They were both sitting on the sand as the sun slowly set. The girl, who Lavena had managed to recognize as a younger human Lucia, leant her head on the boy's shoulder. _

'_Hey, Kaito…' young Lucia muttered softly, but loud enough for Lavena to be able to hear her._

_The boy, Kaito, looked over. 'What is it, Lucia?' He slipped an arm around her and pulled her closer. 'My Mermaid Princess,' he teased._

_Lucia laughed. 'I love you, Kaito.'_

_Kaito leant in and kissed her forehead. 'Me too, princess.'_

Lavena's eyes shot open as the girl leapt to her feet. 'Whoa!' she exclaimed. 'What just happened?'

Shusmeetha jumped. 'Uh, you zoned out, sis,' she offered, making a face. 'You kind of like, just… weren't there for a couple of minutes, then you jumped, yelling.'

'Oh, uh,' Lavena mumbled, scratching the back of her neck sheepishly. 'Sorry if I scared you, 'meetha.'

The other girls just shook their heads and continued on with whatever they were doing. Lavena wasn't sure why, but she didn't feel good about that vision — maybe a short talk with the pink mermaid could clear her head?

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

Gaito had one hand on the wheel as he drove back to Taiping. His 'coincidental' meeting with Lucia in Ipoh had been nice, with a short lunch accompanying since it had been around one in the afternoon when they met. Note the quotation marks.

He eyed the bespectacled girl sitting in the passenger seat as she flipped a page of her novel very casually. That meeting had had 'Zhi Hui' written all over it. It didn't help that the girl had been smiling as she read her book ever since the meeting.

'Alright,' he said, sighing. 'I give up. What did you do _this _time, Zhi Hui?'

She looked up. 'What, me?' she asked, mock innocently. 'What did I do?'

'If I knew, would I be asking you?' he shot back, rolling his eyes. 'And please don't try to deny that you didn't have a hand in me meeting Lucia just now — that had you written all over it.'

She laughed at that, saying, 'Oh really?' Looking up, he saw her eyes glint with amusement. 'Who's to say that you didn't just bump into her by chance? I can't possibly be behind everything.'

She closed her book carefully and smirked. 'Can't that have actually been coincidence for —' she suddenly stopped speaking, tensing in her seat. After a moment, she relaxed and frowned. 'Beware the untrustworthy mermaid, their deceit will either save or doom the future,' he heard her mutter under her breath. 'That dam—'

'Language,' he interrupted.

She glared at him with a scowl. 'Dang Ocean Queen,' she continued under her breath. 'Stupid advice,' she growled. She sighed, reaching a hand up to rub her temples. Flinching, the girl leant back in her seat.

Gaito eyed her in concern but didn't ask about it — that never made anything better. He was mildly curious about her mention of the 'Ocean Queen', but otherwise he saw no reason to ask her anything.

'How long until we get home?' she asked with a sigh.

He checked the time. 'Half an hour or so.' The resulting groan from Zhi Hui just made him chuckle in amusement.

_End Chapter_

* * *

Ah, I've finally got this chapter done. Anyway, read, review, and provide constructive criticism, m'kay?


	16. Chapter 13: Siblings

**Key:**

Narration

'Speaking'

_'Foreign Language (Not English)'_

_Thinking_

Enjoy the story.

* * *

_Chapter 13: Siblings_

'Bye mum, bye dad!' Yi Phing yelled, waving at them as she jumped at the door. 'Drive safe!' Her parents returned the gesture and drove off. Once the car was out of the azure-haired girl's sight, Yi Phing slumped against the door with a groan.

_Great,_ she whined mentally, _another day with those two bugging me… _She huffed. _Don't they have better things to do than to sneak around and play all day?_

Yi Phing sighed heavily, getting up and opening the door again. She paused, suddenly finding the door interesting as she heard her brother and his best friend yell battle cries at each other while the sounds of explosions played upstairs. Swinging the wooden door open, she left the metal grate outside the door shut, keeping the wooden door open so the air flow wasn't interrupted. 'Keep it down, you two!' she yelled at the stairs. 'And don't you have homework?'

The explosions from the video game stopped just long enough for Xian Liang to run outside and look down from the second floor. 'Nope!' her annoying little brother shouted right back, and then he ran back into his room to continue his gaming.

Yi Phing felt her left eye start to twitch in irritation at her brother's actions. 'Ugh,' she muttered to herself, walking upstairs and into her blue-themed room. The half-mermaid grabbed her schoolbag from the chair she had dumped it on when she had come home from school last Friday and unzipped it to pull out her school books.

After some rummaging, the girl finally pulled out a pile of books that had some pages folded so that they stuck over the top of the book. She took one look and pulled a face, sticking her tongue out. 'Ugh,' she muttered to herself, 'Math.'

Throwing the book onto her bed, she pulled out her pencil case and a couple more books with the same folded pages. Heaping all the books onto her bed, she got started on her Maths homework, making faces and scowling when she saw the equations on the page. She _hated _equations.

Well, technically, she hated all Mathematics, but she hated equations most of all.

Either way, she still had to do her homework. Sulking, Yi Phing started to work on the question. She scratched her head in confusion at the numbers on the page but continued anyway. 'What's sixteen times four again?' she mumbled as she wrote down the calculation by the side of the page. 'Oh, sixty-four.'

After a couple of minutes of working on the frustratingly difficult equations, the doorbell rang. Yi Phing looked up from her homework and yelled out, 'Xian Liang, get the door!'

'You get it!' Xian Liang yelled back over the din of guns and explosives.

Frustrated, Yi Phing put down her mechanical pencil, glaring at the wall like she could stare her brother down that way. She returned, 'I got the last fifty-seven rings! You do it this time!'

'No!' he yelled, even as the sound of the video game continued in the background of their shouted conversation. 'I'm busy!'

Yi Phing felt her eye twitch. 'You're not busy!' she yelled back, raising a fist threateningly before she remembered that he couldn't see her. 'You're playing video games!'

'Exactly!'

'_Xian Liang!'_ she burst out, angry.

'Yeesh, sis!' the boy shouted. The video game was paused and her annoying younger brother stalked past her room, the open door letting her glare at him before he went down the stairs. 'It's for you!' he shouted back, irritated.

The eleven-year-old boy stormed back up, going back into his room, which was covered with posters of war games from ceiling to floor, and slamming his door, pasted with stickers of some kind of Sentai show or something.

The blue-haired girl scowled, slamming her book shut and muttering angry sounds about her brother under her breath as she left her room. 'Stupid Xian Liang,' she grumbled, cheeks puffed out in indignation as she walked out of her room. 'Always absorbed in those stupid war video games of his.' Storming down the stairs, she continued to grumble angrily about her little brother.

'Hey, Phing!' Lavhanya's voice chirped brightly. 'What're ya so wound up about?'

'Now's not the time, Lav,' Yi Phing started, 'I'm trying to rant about my brother — wait, Lav?' She turned to see the girl grinning at her from her spot sitting on the sofa. 'What are you doing here?'

The dark-skinned athletic girl smiled at her cheerfully. 'Just dropping by. Lavena insisted at least one of us come by — Lucia-nee's request, I think.' She shrugged causally, tossing her dark green hair out of her brown eyes. 'Vena mentioned she might be coming too, so just a heads up.'

The azure-haired girl let her shoulders drop and sighed, trudging over to the sofa and slumping onto the seat next to her best friend. 'That's good to know,' she groaned, putting her face in her hands. 'I don't think I can take anymore battle cries and explosions from above.'

Lavhanya made a face. 'Video games?' she asked, looking irritated. 'I never liked those things anyway.'

Yi Phing harrumphed. 'I can't stand hearing those sounds,' she grumbled. 'By the way, I tried calling Lucia-nee to see if she could help me out earlier, but my call went straight to voice message after a few rings. Any idea why?'

Lavhanya shrugged, typical of the careless girl, and leant back on the sofa. 'Beats me. Something about a discussion, I think?' She tugged irritable at a stray lock of hair before she huffed and blew it away. 'That Zhi Hui girl came by — said something about um… Lucia-nee and her guardian,' she finished. The girl made a face. 'Lavena got really fed up with her and told her to leave.'

Yi Phing snorted. 'Serves her right,' she mumbled. 'She's such a meanie too!'

Lavhany huffed. 'Yeah, well enough of that meanie,' she said with a scowl. 'So, where was I? Oh yeah. 'Vena said that she'd be coming over later, since she still has some homework to do while 'meetha, Shu Qing, and Shu Ting are all busy.'

Yi Phing nodded. 'M'kay, I got it,' the azure-haired girl said with a smile. 'Anyway, have you gotten to the fractions part of Maths yet? Mrs Lim is making us do early revision, and I've already forgotten most of the basic stuff.' The girl sheepishly smiled at her younger friend, scratching the back of her neck.

'Jeez Phing!' Lavhanya exclaimed with a laugh, reaching out to pat her shoulder. 'Sure, I'll lend you a hand. Just remember you owe me one, 'kay?'

The blue-haired girl blew out her cheeks. 'Seriously, Lav?' she whined as the two girls moved towards the staircase. 'What's with you and favours? You've been saying that since early this year! Can't you just help a gal out without me owing you one?'

'Nope,' the green-haired girl chirped playfully, popping the 'p' in her speech as she skipped up the stairs. 'It's so I can ask you to help me with _my_ homework when I have problems. You're not the only one who has problems with Maths, you know.'

Yi Phing groaned. 'You know that's, like, my worst subject!' the girl whined, going up the stairs to her room. 'I can barely get a B average in Maths, and you want me to teach you? 'Vena had a straight A all-throughout her primary school days — why don't you just ask her? Or Shu Qing? I mean, she has a 70 mark average!'

'Because you're the closest one available!' Lavhanya shot back, huffing. 'Qing and Ting are always together and they always say they're busy! 'Vena has after-school activities and 'meetha is _terrible_ at Maths!' The green-haired girl pouted, following her up the stairs into her room. The younger of the two closed the door behind her as the two girls entered Yi Phing's blue room.

While Yi Phing sorted her Maths books out from her other exercises, Lavhanya flopped onto the blue bed, leaning back with her arms behind her head. The older girl finally found the exercise book amongst the mess of the textbooks and other workbooks in the pile and fished it out, tossing it onto the bed and gathering the rest of her books, hefting them onto her desk. 'Right there. Page… um… I think it was page 25?'

Lavhanya nodded. 'Kay.' The ten-year-old picked up the book, flipping it until she found the page, full of scribbles and hastily written equations. 'Whoa!' the green-haired girl exclaimed loudly. 'You're really bad at this, huh?'

Yi Phing huffed, folding her arms over her chest. 'Okay,' she whined. 'I get it! I'm really bad at Maths, okay? Happy now?' She threw her hands into the air, pouting. 'If I didn't need help, I wouldn't be asking you for it!'

The green-haired girl grinned. 'Aw… you shouldn't have," she teased with a giggle. 'M'kay, so where to start?'

'_Gah!' _A loud scream echoed, no, wait, not one, _two_.

For a second, Yi Phing thought it was just the boys playing with her, but when the video game abruptly stopped playing, she paled. Something was wrong, oh so terribly wrong.

'Lav, come on!' she yelled, panicked. 'Something's wrong!'

'I know, I know!' The green-haired girl snapped, jumping down from the bed, nearly losing her footing and falling onto the ground. Then, the younger paused. 'You think this has anything to do with…' she paused, 'the demons?'

'It better not,' Yi Phing said with an angry frown. 'No one hurts my brother, even _if_ I find him annoying. Now come on!' The girl practically rushed out of her room and threw the door to her brother's room open, shouting out, 'Alright, who's there?!'

The first thing she saw was her brother and Zheng Yi bubbled up in an orange sphere, both unconscious and looking like they were unhurt, which was good, and bad, because they were knocked out. Then there was also a good thing because if they were knocked out, they wouldn't remember this, but this was bad because according to the TV, they might have brain damage from — why was she rambling?

The next thing she saw after stopping her train of thought was the sight of the Black Beauty Sisters, both looking around semi-annoyedly (if that was a real word). Then, Sheshe saw her and called out, 'Hey, Sister Mimi… look who we have here?'

The blue-haired demon looked over and frowned, fins flaring out. 'Oh, not her again!' she whined, huffing. '_Nee_, Sister Sheshe, we'll just have to teach her a lesson, right?'

'Phing, what's going on inside there?' Lavhanya shouted out as she burst into the room, skidding to a hasty stop by grabbing onto the door frame. 'Whoa there! It's you two again!' she exclaimed, seeing the sisters.

'Oh great, two of them?' Sheshe hissed. 'Well, Sister Mimi, we'll just have to teach _both_ of them a lesson!'

Together, they shouted out, 'It's Show Time!'

_A baroque that shuts out the bright light, it becomes a beautiful noise_

_Listen to the whisper of our dark trap, it cradles you, and you will eternally sleep_

Yi Phing and Lavhanya instantly reached up to cover their ears as they screamed in pain. 'Ah! Why does this always happen?' Yi Phing shouted to Lavhanya as she tried to block out the Sisters' singing.

'Don't ask me?' the younger girl shouted, sounding mildly annoyed. 'Jeez!'

_Slowly and gracefully_

_The shadows of our hearts awaken_

_The crimson roses that decorate the depths of the sea, turning pearls to ice_

_Now… together, all of your wishes shall become one_

_Surrender yourselves into the depths of the pitch black darkness_

Yi Phing winced in pain. 'Lav, we need to transform on three,' she whisper-shouted to her good friend. 'And then once they stop, we start singing!' Her hand moved towards her necklace. 'Ready?'

'Almost,' Lavhanya whisper-shouted back, flinching. 'One,' she started, also clasping her necklace. 'Two.'

_This eternal heart-stealing baroque is embraced by the waves of hate and rage_

_The fragile world that you once believed in shall disappear in a single moment_

'Three! Now! Aqua Pearl Voice!' Yi Phing shouted, transforming in a shower of blue light and bubbles.

'Nature Pearl Voice!' Lavhanya transformed in a green glow with floral designs and leaves.

'In the name of the seven seas,' they shouted together, twirling their microphones and raising them up to sing, 'we'll punish you! Pichi Pichi Pitch, Live Start!'

'Ah, not again!' Sheshe shouted, jumping back. 'Sister Mimi, let's!' Pulling out black and red headphones, the Black Beauty Sisters pulled them over their ears… fins… whatever, and covered their fins with their hands once more.

_If a rainbow-coloured morning were to come, then we would unfold a map made of lights_

_You can hear it clearly ringing too, right?_

_You know… this planet's soundless melody_

Yi Phing and Lavhanya moved in sync to the energetic beat of the song, bouncing on their heels in their frilled boots, smiling at each other as they launched into the song, with the taller blue-haired girl leading — it was her image song, after all.

_The rhythm of the ticking clock is sometimes faster than my heartbeat_

_Which is rushing hurriedly, trying to take deep breaths_

_When I start getting lost in the futures' many endings_

_I want to believe in my calm and honest self_

The blue-haired girl threw out a hand as she sang, absorbed in her music enough to let the fact that the demon sisters weren't being affected by her song slip right by her. Wide blue eyes earnest as she smiled, she turned to Lavhanya as they sang the next part of the song.

_Just say 'good morning!' and reset yourself, all the while listening to your heartbeat_

_I am sure that you'll remember what you had forgot_

The two half-mermaid girls linked hands and they shared a knowing glance, beaming widely as they looked triumphantly at the two sisters, voices starting to falter a little as they realized that the demons weren't asking for them to stop singing.

Sheshe and Mimi looked incredibly confident and smug at the moment, like they were daring the duo to continue singing.

Sharing another glance, Yi Phing and Lavhanya nodded, and continued their song.

_Seven rainbow-coloured lights reacted to the iridescent prism_

_If you'll live then, surely, you'll know of love's true meaning_

_Whether it's the coral reef last summer, or all of the birds soaring near the cape_

_I love them all!_

_Everyone surely knows of this planet's…_

_You know… this soundless melody_

The two girls finished the chorus and then looked over to see the demon sisters smiling menacingly.

'It didn't work?!' Yi Phing exclaimed. 'What now?'

'Um… good question!' Lavhanya shouted, taking a step back. 'They can't hear us with those headphones on!'

'But they _can_ hear you with the headphones off!' Lavena's voice shouted. 'Take this!'

Yi Phing's pencil case flew through the air to hit Sheshe in the head, making the redhead yelp and stumble back, accidentally knocking Mimi to the ground in the process.

Mimi reached out, trying to keep herself upright, but she grabbed onto Sheshe's upper arm, pulling her sister down with her. Both demons hit the floor, jostling their headphones off their heads and onto the floor, making them crack and break.

'Psychic Pearl Voice!' Lavena yelled, and joined the two a few seconds later in her purple dress. 'Ready?'

'Right!' Yi Phing confirmed, and all together, they repeated their battle cry, 'Pichi Pichi Pitch, Live Start!'

_In a moment of farewell, wave your hand in a dream-like state_

_Because they're someone that you love, you just can't stand to part with them_

_Just unravel that skirt and then chase after them with all your might_

_That way you won't forget about the bond that connects the two of you_

Yi Phing once more took the centre of the Live Stage, this time certain that the song was working. She raised her gloved hand high in the air as she sang merrily along, Lavhanya and Lavena harmonizing with her as they went.

'No! Why does this always happen?' Sheshe shouted out, gripping her head as she tried to block out the sound.

'Ah! I don't know!' cried Mimi. 'Just stop already!'

_The first time that we parted, my tears just wouldn't stop flowing_

_And I was always searching for… the sky's rainbow_

_Those who are happy will always believe in the truth of happiness_

_Through our tears and smiles, you will surely still have the company of your friends_

The trio moved along to the beat of the song, bouncing on their heels as they entered the chorus, all three smiling widely as their eyes gleamed. The pearls on their microphones shone as the song continued.

_I will always love the sound of your voice; it isn't just a special yell for me_

_Isn't that right?_

_Surely this kindness is…_

_You know… this soundless melody_

_After I go change my clothes, I will come and meet you_

_This world, overflowing with our hope and love is our wonderland_

For the second time, the song drew to a close. This time, the trio of idols winked at the two demons and loudly cheered, 'How about an encore?'

'Ah! We'll be back for the Pink Pearl, trust us on that!' Sheshe pulled herself and Mimi to their feet and screamed, 'No encore!' Without another word, she grabbed her sister and the two demons vanished, probably to whine about their losses somewhere else.

'Yeah, we did it!' Lavhanya cheered, releasing her transformation as she jumped in place, pumping her fist into the air. The dark-skinned girl leapt up, cheering for their win.

Lavena smiled, turning back to normal and sheepishly scratching her head. 'I guess I came here just in time!' she said with a smile. 'Thanks for lending me that spare key, Phing!'

The blue-haired girl nodded, turning back to her normal form too. 'You're welcome, 'vena. Now, where was I?' she wondered, then caught sight of her brother and his friend. 'Oh! Xian Liang! Zheng Yi!' the twelve-year-old exclaimed, running over to them. The older girl poked her brother in the side, waiting to see his reaction.

… but he didn't.

Yi Phing frowned, shoving her brother a bit more roughly. 'Hey, Xian Liang?' she called, worried. 'Wake up!'

Lavena walked over, crouching down. 'Maybe they're just unconscious from the Sisters' singing,' the older girl suggested as the tucked a strand of dark purple hair behind her ear. 'Maybe they'll wake up if we sing… or something.'

The blue-haired girl nodded frantically. 'Um… okay,' she agreed, racking her brain for a second before she continued her song from earlier, though it was less upbeat and lively and more of a softer, soothing tone.

_Seven rainbow-coloured lights reacted to the iridescent prism_

_If you'll live then, surely, you'll know of love's true meaning_

_Whether it's the coral reef last summer, or all of the birds soaring near the cape_

_I love them all!_

_Everyone surely is this planet's…_

_You know… the gifts of this planet_

Xian Liang and Zheng Yi both groaned, waking up. The taller of the two boys rubbed his eyes and yawned sitting up, then he blinked at the sight of his sister and her friends. 'Hey, Yi Phing,' Xian Liang whined, 'I thought I said stay outta my room!'

The older sister beamed widely, pulling him into a sisterly hug. 'Love you too, Xian Liang,' she said with a smile, ruffling his messy blue hair. 'And brush your hair, by the way.'

'Hey!'

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

_If a rainbow-coloured morning were to come, then we would unfold a map made of lights_

_Always keep the feelings that are born and vanish everyday important to you_

_After I go change my clothes, I will come and meet you_

_This world, overflowing with our hope and love is our wonderland_

Lavena waved goodbye to Yi Phing and Lavhanya as she headed to the bus stop to wait for Lucia to pick her up, hearing Yi Phing sing her song to herself as she went. When she arrived there, the teen was the slightest bit annoyed to find that Zhi Hui, of all people, was sitting at the bus stop as well, nose buried in a copy of… well, something. She didn't know what it was.

'Stop staring if you don't like me,' the bespectacled girl said, not looking up at her as she turned a page in her book. 'Didn't your 'Lucia-nee' teach you that staring is rude?' The younger girl snapped the book shut and adjusted her spectacles by the bridge.

'Hey, don't you talk about Lucia-nee like that!' Lavena said, scowling.

Zhi Hui rolled her eyes. 'Jeez. You'd think a teenager would be more mature than the pre-teen,' she muttered, shaking her head. 'Oh look, Gaito-sama's here. I'll catch you later — hopefully not,' the raven-haired girl added, walking past her to head to the black car across the street.

Lavena fumed silently, face red in anger. Ugh! She just hated this girl!

_**Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls**_

'How did your project go?' Gaito asked as his ward slipped into the passenger's seat and buckled up.

Zhi Hui muttered a sullen answer to him. 'Just about as well as you'd expect. How'd your _date_ go?' she returned back, emphasizing the word.

The man glared at her, frowning. 'Zhi Hui,' he reprimanded, before sighing. 'I don't really think it counts as a date if we're not together.'

The girl just muttered something, not giving him a solid response.

After a beat, he gently prompted. 'Zhi Hui?'

'Huh? Oh, uh, yeah,' the girl mumbled, shaking her head. 'Sorry.'

Gaito focused his attention on the road as he started to drive the car back towards their house. 'You alright? You seem kind of spaced-out sometimes. Especially in class, where I get the feeling you've been doing your homework again.'

His ward stuck out her tongue at him in a rare act of immaturity and displayed a little grin. 'Which I may or may not have been and you can't say anything without evidence,' she quipped cheerfully. 'But I'm fine, really.'

The teacher chuckled. 'If you say so. And I'll catch you one day. You'll be stuck with the longest essay I can find in my reference books.'

'Oh, the horror!' Zhi Hui said with a mocking tone, grinning at him. 'But I'll wait for that day, if it ever comes before I graduate from primary school. Doubt it will, but I'd like to see you try.'

Gaito snorted. 'Trust me, it'll happen. One of these days, I'll have the satisfaction of catching you red-handed.'

'Good luck with that.' Zhi Hui smirked at him.

He reached a hand out and ruffled her hair in a display of affection, chuckling in amusement at her cockiness. 'Sure thing, kid. Sure thing.'

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